Electronic journal
Encyclopedia
Electronic journals, also known as ejournals, e-journals, and electronic serials, are scholarly journals or intellectual magazines that can be accessed via electronic transmission. In practice, this means that they are usually published on the Web. They are a specialized form of electronic document
: they have the purpose of providing material for academic research
and study, and they are formatted approximately like journal articles in traditional printed journals. Being in electronic form, articles sometimes contain metadata
that can be entered into specialized databases, such as DOAJ or OACI, as well as the databases and search-engines for the academic discipline concerned.
Some electronic journals are online-only journals; some are online versions of printed journals, and some consist of the online equivalent of a printed journal, but with additional online-only (sometimes video and interactive mediahttps://www.brookes.ac.uk/library/film/filmejnls.html) material.
Most commercial journals are subscription-based, or allow pay-per-view
access. Many universities subscribe in bulk to packages of electronic journals, so as to provide access to them to their students and faculty. It is generally also possible for individuals to purchase an annual subscription to a journal, via the original publisher.
An increasing number of journals are now available as online open access journal
s, requiring no subscription and offering free full-text articles and reviews to all. Individual articles from electronic journals will also be found online for free in an ad-hoc manner: in working paper
archives; on personal homepages; and in the collections held in institutional repositories and subject repositories. Some commercial journals do find ways to offer free materials. They may offer their initial issue or issues free, and then charge thereafter. Some give away their book reviews section for free. Others offer the first few pages of each article for free.
Most electronic journals are published in HTML
and/or PDF formats, but some are available in only one of the two formats. A small minority publish in DOC
, and a few are starting to add MP3
audio. Some early electronic journals were first published in ASCII
text, and some informally published ones continue in that format.
Electronic document
An electronic document is any electronic media content that are intended to be used in either an electronic form or as printed output....
: they have the purpose of providing material for academic research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
and study, and they are formatted approximately like journal articles in traditional printed journals. Being in electronic form, articles sometimes contain metadata
Metadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
that can be entered into specialized databases, such as DOAJ or OACI, as well as the databases and search-engines for the academic discipline concerned.
Some electronic journals are online-only journals; some are online versions of printed journals, and some consist of the online equivalent of a printed journal, but with additional online-only (sometimes video and interactive mediahttps://www.brookes.ac.uk/library/film/filmejnls.html) material.
Most commercial journals are subscription-based, or allow pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
access. Many universities subscribe in bulk to packages of electronic journals, so as to provide access to them to their students and faculty. It is generally also possible for individuals to purchase an annual subscription to a journal, via the original publisher.
An increasing number of journals are now available as online open access journal
Open access journal
Open access journals are scholarly journals that are available online to the reader "without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself." Some are subsidized, and some require payment on behalf of the author.Subsidized journals...
s, requiring no subscription and offering free full-text articles and reviews to all. Individual articles from electronic journals will also be found online for free in an ad-hoc manner: in working paper
Working paper
A working paper or work paper or workpaper may refer to:*A preliminary scientific or technical paper. Often, authors will release working papers to share ideas about a topic or to elicit feedback before submitting to a peer reviewed conference or academic journal.* Sometimes the term working paper...
archives; on personal homepages; and in the collections held in institutional repositories and subject repositories. Some commercial journals do find ways to offer free materials. They may offer their initial issue or issues free, and then charge thereafter. Some give away their book reviews section for free. Others offer the first few pages of each article for free.
Most electronic journals are published in HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
and/or PDF formats, but some are available in only one of the two formats. A small minority publish in DOC
DOC (computing)
In computing, DOC or doc is a filename extension for word processing documents; most commonly for Microsoft Word. Historically, the extension was used for documentation in plain-text format, particularly of programs or computer hardware, on a wide range of operating systems...
, and a few are starting to add MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
audio. Some early electronic journals were first published in ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
text, and some informally published ones continue in that format.