Abstract
This article discusses the future of quality control in an academic publication system that will be largely based on electronic publishing. Information and communication technologies both challenge traditional ways and open remedies for existent problems of present gate-keeping. New forms of ex-ante and of ex-post quality control may partly replace and partly amend peer review, citation indices and quality filters based on the reputation of the publisher. Open peer review, online commenting, rating, access counts and use tracking are evaluated and put in perspective. Refuting the common argument that e-publishing leads to less quality, this paper puts forward scenarios of the future quality control system. Most likely, we shall see mixed systems, combining old and new elements, of different shapes in the different research fields.
Zusammenfassung
In diesem Artikel wird die Zukunft der Qualitätskontrolle in einem weitgehend auf Elektronisch Publizieren basierenden Veröffentlichungswesen diskutiert. Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien stellen eine Herausforderung für die traditionellen Verfahren dar und zugleich eine Chance, Probleme des bestehenden Kontrollsystems zu lösen. Neue Formen einer ex-ante und ex-post Qualitätskontrolle könnten das auf der Reputation des Verlags beruhende System von Peer-Review, Referenzindizes und Qualitätsfilter teils ersetzen, teils verbessern. Offene Begutachtung, Online-Kommentierung, Rating, Zugriffszählung und Nutzungsverfolgung werden analysiert und in Perspektive gesetzt. In Widerspruch zu dem verbreiteten Argument, elektronisches Publizieren führe zu einem Qualitätsverlust, werden in diesem Beitrag Szenarien für ein zukünftiges Qualitätskontrollsystem vorgestellt. Am wahrscheinlichsten werden sich gemischte Systeme entwickeln, in denen sich alte und neue Elemente verbinden, in je unterschiedlicher Gestalt für verschiedene Forschungsgebiete.
Résumé
Le présent article se penche sur l’avenir du contrôle de qualité dans un système d’édition universitaire qui sera largement fondé sur la publication électronique. Les technologies de l’information et de la communication lancent un défi aux méthodes traditionnelles, mais ouvrent aussi la voie à la solution des problèmes existants actuellement dans le domaine des systèmes à accès indirect. De nouvelles formes de contrôle de qualité antérieur et postérieur pourront partiellement remplacer et modifier le système de contrôle par les pairs, des index de citations et des filtres de qualité basé sur la réputation de la maison d’édition. Un contrôle ouvert par les pairs, les commentaires en ligne, les évaluations, le comptage des consultations et la traçabilité des utilisateurs sont analysés et mis en perspective. Contrairement à l’argument courant selon lequel la publication électronique entraîne une baisse de qualité, cet article présente des scénarios pour le futur système de contrôle de la qualité. Il est très probable que se développeront des systèmes mixtes combinant des éléments anciens et nouveaux, sous différentes formes pour les différents domaines de recherche.
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Notes
This article is a condensed version of Ch. 6 from Nentwich (2003, pp. 367–397).
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Nentwich, M. Quality control in academic publishing: challenges in the age of cyberscience. Poiesis Prax 3, 181–198 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10202-004-0071-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10202-004-0071-8