As measured by impact (citations) or informal
prestige, some online journals surpass many print journals.
It's true that print journals still have greater impact and
prestige than online journals, but only if we average the two
classes. The factors that create respectability are medium-
independent, and can easily belong to online journals. A
growing number of online journals are as respectable as any
print journal. BMJ (formerly called the British Medical
Journal) is eminently respectable. It offers 100% of its
print copy online free of charge. There are other examples in
every field.
My view is that the lack of an agreed upon classification
method is not a problem. That's a long conversation. But
it's not true that the need for such a classification method
is widely felt. Indexing and organization are desirable, but
there is free and priced software to index and organize any
online content in any way that users want. This software will
only get better as time goes on.
It's not true that no feasible alternative revenue models have
emerged.
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