The importance of journals to the scientific endeavor

Abstract

Journals are the most important information source of scientists and the use of journals in scholarly communication is one of the most studied, but misunderstood, themes in scholarly communication research. The value of these journals is discussed here on the basis of three decades of studies carried out mostly in the United States. Highlights important aspects of these studies, such as the amount of, time spent on, and benefits from reading scholarly journals, as well as the decrease in personal journal subscriptions. Analyzes studies on electronic journals usage, showing recent results where the increasing in the use of the electronic media by academic researchers is highlighted.