Scientific journal

“ Under this title an illustrated journal will be published weekly, to which the attention of scientific men and the educated public is invited.
Science will be a strictly independent journal, devoted to the advancement of knowledge and scientific research in America, and will be technical only in so far as the subject-matter may require. ”

“ Moreover, peer review involves scientists submitting a manuscript to a scientific journal in the field, journal editors soliciting critical reviews from other experts in the field and deciding whether [*745] the scientist has followed proper research procedures, employed up-to-date methods, considered and cited relevant literature and generally, whether the researcher has employed sound science. ”

“ To produce these efforts, and to excite this interest, nothing, perhaps, bids fairer than a Scientific Journal. Hitherto nearly all our exertions, of this kind, have been made by medical gentlemen, and directed primarily to medical objects. We are neither ignorant nor forgetful of the merits of our various Medical Journals, nor of the zeal with which, as far as consistent with their main object, they have fostered the physical sciences. ”

“ We speak as one of the fraternity. How can an editor know the conventions of physicists, of zoologists, of botanists, of chemists, of geologists and all the rest? Specialization has proceeded so far that the editor of a general scientific journal nowadays must have, some may think, either enormous learning or vast audacity. ”

“ Some years ago the truths of evolution needed a fearless advocate, but when these are preached from the pulpit there is no longer need of a special organ. The daily press now publishes articles everywhere of a readable and light character on scientific topics, and no monthly magazine is complete without one or two such articles. What the country needs is a journal that will set a standard of accuracy and weight, and will separate the real advances of science from the vagaries of the charlatan. ”

“ A well illustrated magazine devoted to the popularization of science should have a wide circulation and be conducted on different lines from a journal concerned with the less elementary aspects of scientific work, just as a high school and the graduate school of a university differ in their methods and in their appeal. ”

“ There are, however, some “Journals” published by or “under the auspices of” societies which are really periodicals, and should be so treated in entry, the society being not the author but the editor. Again, there are works which occupy a borderland between the two classes, in regard to which the puzzled cataloguer should remember that it is not of much importance which way he decides, provided he is careful to make all necessary references. Examples of such doubtful cases are “Alpine journal: a record of mountain adventure and scientific observation. ”

“ The editor of this Journal, strongly inclined, both from opinion and habit, to gratify the cultivators of science, will still do everything in his power to promote its high interests, and as he hopes in a better manner than heretofore; but these respectable gentlemen will have the courtesy, to yield something to the reading literary, as well as scientific public, and will not, we trust, be disgusted, if now and then an Oasis relieves the eye, and a living stream refreshes the traveller. ”

“ We are aware, also, that Journals have been established, professedly deriving their materials principally from foreign sources; that our various literary Magazines and Reviews have given, and continue to give, some notices of physical and mathematical subjects, and that some of them seem even partial to these branches of knowledge: that various limited efforts have been made, and are still making, to publish occasional or periodical papers, devoted to mathematical or physical subjects, and that even our newspapers sometimes contain scientific intelligence. ”

“ Probably there is no paper in America that is doing more to popularize science and to interest the general public in scientific knowledge, than this journal. We do not hesitate to recommend it to any one who desires to keep abreast with the discoveries and news in the scientific world. ”

“ Finally, we must review, but more briefly, the subsequent history of what has so often been called after its founder, “Silliman’s Journal.”
The nineteenth century, and particularly the hundred years in which we are now interested, must always stand out in the history of the world as the period which has 14combined the greatest development in all departments of science with the most extraordinary industrial progress. It was not until this century that scientific investigation used to their full extent the twin methods of observation and experiment. ”

“ The Proprietors and publishers of THE AMERICAN CHEMIST, having purchased the subscription list and stock of the American reprint of THE CHEMICAL NEWS, have decided to advance the interests of American Chemical Science by the publication of a Journal which shall be a medium of communication for all practical, thinking experimenting, and manufacturing scientific men throughout the country. ”

“ Silliman continues:
No one, it is presumed, will doubt that a journal devoted to science, and embracing a sphere sufficiently extensive to allure to its support the principal scientific men of our country, is greatly needed; if cordially supported, it will be successful, and if successful, it will be a great public benefit. ”

“ The scientific results, which most fortunately seem to be justifying the expedition, are being published in suitable places; there is no technical science in this journal. It is a record of some of the human experiences through which a scientist goes in search of facts lying beyond everyday human experience. ”

“ As the Journal has advanced and death has removed its scientific contributors, younger men and men still younger, have recruited the ranks, and volunteers have enlisted in numbers constantly increasing, so that the flower of the host are now in the morning and meridian of life. ”

“ During the early years of the nineteenth century, however, economic conditions in our country became such as to give opportunity for scientific thought. Educated men then formed themselves into societies for the discussion of scientific matters. This naturally led to the establishment of publications whereby the papers presented to the societies could be published and made available to the advancement of science generally. The most influential of these was the Journal of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Science, which was established in 1817, and was devoted largely to zoological papers. ”

“ Perhaps it may be truly remarked, that, next to the establishment of institutions having either the promotion of science in general, or, what is still more practically efficacious in its present advanced state, that of particular departments of physical enquiry, for their express objects, nothing has exercised so powerful an influence on the progress of modern science as the publication of monthly and quarterly scientific journals, of which there is now scarcely a352 nation in Europe which does not produce several. ”

“ Between 1806 and 1868 he communicated no less than 315 papers on scientific subjects most of them bearing upon optical investigations to the transactions of societies, and to purely scientific journals. ”

“ His original investigations were neither numerous nor important, and his name is best known to scientific men as the founder, and from 1818 to 1838 the sole editor, of the American Journal of Science and Arts—often called Silliman's Journal,—one of the foremost American scientific serials. ”

“ But even this statement is inadequate, for the editor-in-chief has had the generous assistance of other gentlemen, whose names have not been placed on the title page, and who have also played an important part in the conduct of the Journal. This policy, indeed, is not a matter of recent date. Very early in the First Series, Professor Griscom of Paris, as already noted, furnished notes of interesting scientific discoveries abroad. Other gentlemen have from time to time acted in the same capacity. ”

“ We gratefully acknowledge the obligation under which he has laid us by his diligent attendance at the meetings, by his unstinted giving of time and of labor in editing the publications and maintaining their high scientific character, by the quality and amount of his own contributions to the Journal—more than half of volumes VI-XII [15] coming from his pen—and above all by the inspiration of his example. ”

“ In the engineering library alone there are one hundred and seventy-three. It is believed that this forms one of the largest collections of scientific journals to be found anywhere. The Institute publishes a scientific magazine, known as the Technology Quarterly, which was established in 1887, and is the official organ for the publication of the results of tests in the laboratories and of special investigations by members of the staff and by students and alumni. ”

“ Of the thousands of scientific journals and regular publications by scientific societies and academies to-day, but a very small number have carried on a continuous and practically unbroken existence since 1818. ”

“ The Serial columns of Nature contain the gist of the most important Papers that appear in the numerous Scientific Journals which are now published at home and abroad, in various languages; while longer Abstracts are given of the more valuable Papers which appear in foreign Journals. ”

“ The type is good, the price is reasonable, the editors are wide awake, and, with the advantages of thorough scientific training and long previous experience on scientific journals, are well adapted to the work—conditions certainly favorable to the production of a good magazine. ”

“ The development of effective channels of communication between researchers across the globe has been a critical factor underpinning the growth in our understanding of the world over the past 350 years. Since the establishment of the first scientific journals in 1665, the communication of theoretical and empirical findings through such journals and other publications has been at the heart of the scientific and broader research enterprise. ”

“ The technical and scientific journals are intended for scholars, engineers, and industrial technicians; cultural and political periodicals are aimed at writers, editors, journalists, artists, party workers, and enterprise managers; and general publications are intended to appeal to various segments of the population, such as youth, women, and both industrial and agricultural workers. ”

“ No one act of the society contributed so much to its prosperity as the publication of the Journal, commenced in 1817 and continued at irregular intervals for a period of twenty-five years. The series consists of eight octavo volumes, illustrated by lithographic and engraved plates, and contains contributions from nearly all the active naturalists of the period, who had, indeed, scarcely any other avenue of publicity for the details of their original investigations. ”

“ One notes first a wholesome influence in the establishment of higher standards, both of research and of scientific publication. Investigations as a whole have become more intensive and more critical. Much of the work that would have passed muster for publication two decades ago is now regarded by the editors of the best biological periodicals as too general and too superficial. The requisites for the recognition of creditable work being higher, tends to elevate the whole level of biological science. ”

“ Monthly into two journals is in the natural course of evolution, each journal being able to adapt itself to its environment more advantageously than is possible for a single journal. Each can perform an important service for the diffusion and advancement of science. ”

“ At the present day when natural history is becoming so popular, when there are numerous small and great societies, each of which has its periodical meetings for the exhibition of specimens, &c, it is a very great boon to the members thereof to know how to mount the various objects in which they are interested in a proper permanent and scientific manner, and so far as I am aware there is no periodical or magazine which regularly opens its pages for the discussion of matter of this kind. ”

“ Before describing our proposal, it is important to acknowledge the strengths of the current system for published scientific work, because it has served the scientific community well for over 300 years. Printed journals, particularly the few hundred leading representatives, do more than just transmit results to our community. They subject the reports to peer review and editing, a process that reassures busy readers that papers have been carefully scrutinized and affords the authors an opportunity to improve their work based on the (generally anonymous) advice of their colleagues. ”

“ Within the past three or four years there has been a large increase in the amount of popular scientific publication in this country, which is seen in the establishment of a scientific magazine, and in the appearance of a 'scientific columns' and 'scientific departments' in many of our newspapers and magazines. ”

“ One of the present causes of progress is that all discoveries are published at once in technical journals and in the daily press. The publication of descriptive indexes of all scientific and engineering articles as fast as they appear is another modern contrivance. ”

“ Still, as a matter of fact, and plain facts should not give offense to any one, we must admit that the great value of the microscope as a means of investigation lies in the aid it gives to almost every branch of science. This leads us to a statement of what, in our opinion, a microscopical journal should be. Recognizing the value of microscopical study in the various branches of natural science, such a journal should aim to publish the results of research carried on with the microscope in every department. ”