Digital research/analog publishing - One scientist's view

Abstract

The scientific workflow, from initial ideas to data generated during hypothesis testing, to conclusions drawn from those experiments, is increasingly in a digital form. The publishing process loses much of that digital context since while a PDF or HTML page is digital, it really is a reflection of an analog past in terms of what can be done with that content. While a PDF of a research article has merit as a concise description, it is only one view on that work and others are possible. I argue here that these other views could increase the rate of scientific discovery through provision of a digital continuum that includes the data and methods (where possible) used to reach the major conclusions of the work. Such changes are afoot being driven from the bottom up by scientists and the top down by publishers.