Disseminating science: Lighten our darkness

PUBLISHING scientific journals used to be pretty straightforward. You received manuscripts describing researchers' latest work, ran them past a few experts in the field, type-set them, printed the result, and sold it to libraries, universities and interested individuals--often at deliciously high margins.Not any more. Such journals, like in every other corner of publishing in the digital age, are in flux. Increasingly, publishers are competing by offering additional services that make their live...