Print
Send to friend
RSS feedsElsevier, the scientific, technical and medical information publisher, are releasing first article prototypes of the project - Article of the Future - an ongoing collaboration with the scientific community to redefine how a scientific article is presented online.
The prototypes, with non-linear structure, enhanced graphical navigation, real time reference analyses, and integrated multimedia, aim at revealing a new approach to presenting scientific research online.
They introduce a hierarchical presentation of text and figures that enable readers to elect for drilling down through the layers based on their current task in the scientific workflow and their level of expertise and interest. This organisational structure is a significant departure from the linear-based organisation of a traditional print-based article in incorporating the core text and supplemental material within a single unified structure.
The prototypes also feature bulleted article highlights and a graphical abstract facilitating quick understanding of the paper’s key message and serves as a navigation mechanism to directly access specific sub-sections of the results and figures. The graphical abstract is intended to encourage browsing, promote interdisciplinary scholarship and help readers identify more quickly which papers are most relevant to their research interests.
The project – Article of the Future - aims at allowing readers individualised entry points and routes through content.
Emilie Marcus, editor in chief, Cell Press - an imprint of Elsevier, said: “The genesis of the Article of the Future project came from a challenge to redesign from scratch how to most effectively structure and present the content of a traditional scientific article in an online environment. The rapid pace of technological advancements means this will undoubtedly be an evolving design, but it addresses some key reader and author pain points such as the integration of supplemental data.”
The prototypes have been developed by the editorial, production and IT teams at Cell Press in collaboration with Elsevier’s user centered design group using content from two previously published Cell articles.
IJsbrand Jan Aalbersberg, vice president of content innovation for Elsevier science & technology journal publishing said: “These tools will enhance the presentation of scientific results and improve the interpretation and speed of results analysis. They are central to driving innovation in scientific publishing and represent our investment in the future of research, enabling scientists all over the world to access, interpret, and create better science more efficiently.”
The Article of the Future prototype can be viewed at Cell where Elsevier is inviting scientific community feedback on the concept. Successful ideas from this project will ultimately be rolled-out across Elsevier’s portfolio of 2,000 journals available on ScienceDirect.
