Issue 98050 Editor: Erik Sandewall 15.6.1998

Today

ETAI to be Published by Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

The Electronic Transactions on Artificial Intelligence has encountered the same issue as other electronic journals: People want them on paper as well. For the individual user, it is fine to download specific articles from a server when she needs them, but it is often felt that there ought to be an issue of paper copies somewhere. Sometimes the reasons are for backup in disaster scenarios: "what if the Internet crumbles?" - "what if noone can read postscript after the year 2050?", and sometimes the reasons are for prestige or pure nostalgia: "I like to see my paper in print". At the same time, if everyone is able to get the articles free from the net, then who is going to pay for the paper edition?

For the ETAI, this problem has now been solved through an agreement that has just been signed between the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (KVA), the European Coordinating Committee for Artificial Intelligence (ECCAI), and Linköping University (LiU). The following has been agreed:

With this arrangement, the cost of producing the ETAI in both an electronic edition and a paper edition are considered to be so marginal that it will continue to be possible to run it as a community service and without any need for subscription fees. All three partners to the agreement share an interest in the innovative aspects of ETAI as a new form of scientific communication that makes full use of the Internet infrastructure.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences already publishes a number of traditional journals, including Acta Mathematica and Acta Zoologica. It is well known in particular for its authority to award the Nobel prizes in Physics and in Chemistry each year. With its participation in the ETAI project, the Academy has shown its desire to combine traditional quality with innovation in the field of science.

For the ETAI, this agreement means a significant advancement with respect to formal standing and stability, but it also means that we will be able to benefit from the Academy's expertise with respect to communication in and of science.