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BMJ No 7123 Volume 315 Education and debate Saturday 20/27 December Christmas 1997 issue From snapshot to movie Tony Delamothe Within five years most readers and researchers will have understood that the scientific paper, despite its illustrious history, was merely a passing phase. Before the internet, papers were undoubtedly the best way to communicate the results of research to peers who weren't physically present. A fixture in the academic landscape, the many limitations of papers were hardly noticed. But the scientific paper never approximated even vaguely to real life; Medawar went as far as to call it a fraud. The world wide web will make honest men and women out of researchers: at last they will be able to tell it like it is. Freed by the web of constraints on space, they will be able to share the entire trajectory of their research project as it unfolds, to everyone in the world with web access. The "virtual article" could start with the primeval soup of discussion, debate, and previous research from which their research question arose. Following this would be the protocol, raw data and analysis, and conclusions - and how these have been refined in response to comments from peer reviewers and others (which would all be available for perusal). Despite the abundance of material clear signposting and site design would keep the computer screen uncluttered and might even allow the main message of the research to emerge with greater clarity than at present. All content could be downloaded from the site and printed out on paper if required. Comments from the authors or readers could be appended to the work long after it has been completed; links could be followed to articles that subsequently cite it (forward referencing). Closure need never occur; the scientific paper that we know and love will come to be recognised for what it is - one moment in the history of an idea, frozen in time, like a black and white snapshot. True, still photographs have their power and fascination, but most of us opt for moving images. The research project can be available as it unfolds, to everyone in the world with web access, at a cost many times lower than paper journals. Science could eventually become the more open, collaborative endeavour that its propagandists claim it to be. Of course, this Utopian vision leaves many issues unaddressed. For example, who guarantees the quality of material, and who is responsible for providing access to it after institutions have folded and individuals moved on (functions currently fulfilled, with varying success, by journals)? How will interested parties find their way to relevant material, given the bluntness of current search tools on the web? Will some higher authority be needed to ensure that researchers will post negative as well as positive comments on their work and to adjudicate in disputes over plagiarism and theft? So much has become possible in such a short time that it seems unlikely that these issues will present enduring obstacles. BMJ, London WC1H 9JR Tony Delamothe, deputy editor email: tdelamothe@bmj.com Home | Current issue | Past issues | Classified ads | Career Focus | Feedback Collections | About this site | About the BMJ | BMA | Medline