An autonomous system generates concepts and theories, which are tested and challenged by the scientific community in a discursive infrastructure that depends heavily on scientific journals. Those concepts and theories change and adapt, or they die off.
Electronic publishing has the potential to transform scientific communication.
At its most basic level, the availability of scientific journals on the Internet allows scientists and professionals to access the most current information from their homes and offices. Yet unless those journals exploit the Internet's potential for two-way communication, enabling readers to interact and contribute, they will still be pale imitations of paper journals. Thom Lieb on the new JEP Mike Cuneca on the old JEP Return to Front Page takes advantage of the two-way communication possibilities it affords. The system supports graphical illustrations and automatically inserts them into the text. Hypertext is also inserted into the articles.