The debates initiated by the opinions of a researcher examining the census rarely occur in the Sciences. Instinctively we know there are differences, and SuperJournal has given us the opportunity to study actual differences in terms of usage, and the motivations that underpin behavioural patterns. The baseline studies conducted at the start of the project highlighted some differences in how Scientists and Social Scientists use printed journals. Scientists use bibliographic databases to identify relevant articles, where Social Scientists use a broad range of retrieval methods. Scientists photocopy articles and read them later, where Social Scientists often read them in the library and take notes.
Scientists value the high quality graphics and colour images in the original article.
Social Scientists value portability and often read journals at home. I'd like to characterise how the Scientists and Social Scientists use electronic journals in different ways, based on what they said in interviews and focus groups at the end of the project, and their actual use of SuperJournal. Social Scientists Social Scientists said that they used SuperJournal most often to identify some recent articles in their area of research, largely in response to some task, e.g. writing an essay, research for a publication or preparing a lecture. They wanted to see the paper to know whether or not it was of interest, following the lines of argument or scope. Table 1 shows that the Social Scientists more frequently viewed abstracts than the Scientists, and more frequently viewed the full text article.