The InterJournal (ISSN: 1081-0625) differs from conventional paper journals as well as from many electronic journals in a number of ways discussed below. A summary of InterJournal forms follows. Commonly asked questions are also addressed.

The InterJournal relies upon authors to store and make their manuscripts available on the Internet. This utilization of the distributed database nature of the WWW enables a number of changes from conventional publication.

• Redefining the word "manuscript": In recent years one of the major advances in print publication is the introduction of color. The InterJournal takes this further by enabling all possible data formats that can be stored on a computer and transferred through the Internet. A manuscript may consist of: text, color figures and pictures, computr programs, raw data, video, audio and documents that are structured by hyperlinks. While there are many possibilities, authors should use the medium to serve the purpose of communication of results. The opportunity to include raw data and computer programs as part of manuscripts does suggest that publication may be viewed not only as a process of communicating finished results, but also as a more general means of facilitating the advance of science. Providing a common database that contains data and computer programs, rather than just the summary of results possible in print journals, enables new opportunities for what, in effect, become distributed collaborations.

• Redefining the function of "refereeing": In recent years electronic databases of preprints have become standard in a number of fields. These databases provide access to manuscripts before they are in print. The InterJournal enables public access to manuscripts immediately upon submission. However, at the discretion of the authors, during an initial refereeing period access may be limited to a few editor selected referees. Refereeing serves four distinct purposes:

  • To evaluate manuscripts so as to determine category of acceptance or rejection. The manuscript categories are related to the importance of the article and the related professional recognition. The categories parallel existing journals: General Audience Letter, Professional Letter, Review Article, Article, Brief Article and Report. Acceptance of a manuscript enables the author to refer to the manuscript as published (accepted) in an archival journal. The use of categories of publication in the InterJournal avoids the problem of submission of a manuscript, followed by rejection, and the need to resubmit to a different journal. The manuscript should rise or fall to its level of recognition within the InterJournal. This prevents the long delays in publication/public availaility that arise in paper journals if the manuscript is reviewed at more than one journal before acceptance. At the same time, refereeing still provides a means of filtering articles and labeling them by quality for the benefit of both author and reader. In addition there is a "News item" category that enables the announcement of conferences, workshops, books, etc. of relevance to the readership.

  • To direct manuscripts to the interested audience. It is generally recognized that the number of articles published, even in a particular field, greatly exceeds the capacity of anyone to read them. This is often attributed to an abundance of poor quality work. However, there are published a great number of articles that are of high quality. Nevertheless, everyone must limit the number of articles he/she can read. An essential function of refereeing in the InterJournal is to properly identify the subject area of the manuscript. Subject areas are a first andsignificant step towards enabling the appropriate audience to be reached by a manuscript.

  • To provide corrections and advice to the authors of a manuscript. Private comments that are attached to a referees report are communicated directly to the author of the manuscript. The author may make use of these to revise the manuscript or may reply to the referee privately. This function of the refereeing process - to provide feedback on a manuscript - is maintained.

  • To provide public comments: In recent years, many journals have provided a mechanism for brief comments that are directly related to a particular manuscript. In a sense this is an expanded form of refereeing that enables readers to benefit from the work of the original author as well as the improvements, criticisms or references that might otherwise be communicated to the author through an anonymous, private and unrecognized referees report. Comments can also be written after acceptance of the article. The InterJournl treats the commenting process as an integral part of the journal. Referees are encouraged to contribute their thoughts on the manuscript for the benefit of others by means of public comments. The same page that gives access from the journal to the original manuscript also has hyperlinks to the public comments on it. Comments are treated similarly to manuscripts and can be commented upon, refereed, and classified in the database.

  In addition to the change in focus of the refereeing process there are several changes in the mechanism by which refereeing is done. Unlike other journals, in the InterJournal refereeing can be done by any qualified referee who accesses the manuscript. This open refereeing diminishes the opportunities for abuse when journals rely upon only one or two anonymous referees. If the authors of a manuscript prefer to have the editor select referees initially this confidential refereeing must be followed by open refereeing before final acceptance is determined. The acceptance, category of publication, and subject areas of publication are ultimately determined by the editors. Editors may also solicit the opinions of specific referees. However, they are guided in their decisions by an algorithm that makes reasonable assumptions about the competence of referees in their areas of specialization. The function of the editors is primarily to intervene if there is evidence that the refereeing process is compromised.

  Finally, both abstracts and hyperlinks to rejected manuscripts are maintained in the database. They continue to be linked but carry the status "Rejected". This enables an author to establish a record of work even when it is not accepted by the referees. It is consistent with the use of refereeing to determine professional credit rather than enabling or restricting access. Manuscripts that are rejected should not be considered as "published in a refereed journal" however, they are "recorded". This discussion only applies to professional articles rejected on professional grounds. The editors will summarily remove any "Junk" or inappropriate submissions and have responsibility for the Journal content.

• Redefining the word "journal" from singular toplural: One of the central problems in the large number of paper journals that are published is that each journal addresses a segment of the research audience. Any research that is done is generally of interest to more than one segment of the research community. This is particularly true in the rapidly expanding areas of interdisciplinary research. The InterJournal acts not as a single journal but as a number of interlocking journals. Articles that are submitted can be simultaneously refereed and accepted (or rejected) in more than one of these virtual journals. The different journals are identified by subject area. However, all of the subject areas are part of the same global subject hierarchy and the abstracts of all of the different areas are stored in a common database. To access a particular area (i.e. journal) a reader specifies the topic of interest in a search. Submission of manuscripts to different journals is accomplished by specifying the areas of interest of the manuscript at time ofsubmission. The referees may change the journals in which the manuscript is eventually published by their referee reports that recommend areas of interest for acceptance. The subject hierarchy that is used to establish the areas of interest enables two different kinds of distinctions. The first is in topic, the second is level of general interest. This is similar to paper journals that are can be more specific or address a more general audience.