Changing the way that academics read and cite their papers

Now that most academics rely on electronic products as the means of accessing journal papers, there is an opportunity to publish articles by the article rather than by the journal. Papers could be made available with a full citation more quickly and it could streamline the publishing process.

We carried out qualitative research in the UK and USA among publishing authors to assess their level of interest in such a radical change and how article-based publishing should be introduced.