T.J. Walker's Opinion article on free access to journal articles via the internet1 was thought-provoking and timely. I agree that in an ideal world, journals would provide unfettered access to articles appearing in print for wider impact. I would like to add two points.
One, although it will lead to less overall impact, many scientists are taking it upon themselves to create Web links to papers on their own Web pages. Such efforts provide more and easier circulation of information. This effort is aided by the policy of some journals, for instance, Evolutionary Ecology Research, to E-mail PDF files to authors at the time of publication at no charge, and in lieu of physical reprints. Until all articles are freely available online, such personal paper posting will help to bridge the access gap.
Two, although Web access, and perhaps only Web access, seems great on the surface, often...
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