Scholarly Communication 2.0: Exploring Researchers' Opinions on Web 2.0 for Scientific Knowledge Creation, Evaluation and Dissemination

This paper presents the results of a survey aimed at gauging the potential acceptance of a collaborative and Web 2.0 inspired scholarly communication sector. While this sector has seen the birth of a multitude of innovative initiatives, there is still little empirical evidence of the acceptance of such initiatives by researchers. We received 349 completed questionnaires from researchers of many different disciplines. The results of the survey show that there is a strong positive attitude towards Web 2.0 and open publishing approaches. However, the major challenge still resides in combining free dissemination of results with robust and reliable quality control mechanisms.

► We explore the opinions of researchers on Web 2.0 for scientific knowledge.
► 345 questionnaires were completed by researchers from many different disciplines.
► Results show dissatisfaction with current copyright and dissemination policies.
► There is room to adopt methods to combine free dissemination and quality control.
► Authors recommend policy intervention to change the mainstream publishing practices.