34 FREDM. tJBER 



Just as it is advisable to write in a widely used language, so it is 

 desirable that the articles appear in journals where they will be 

 noticed by interested scientists. The historic work of Gregor Mendel, 

 now considered the foundation of modern genetics, was effectively lost 

 to the scientific world for over thirty years presumably because it was 

 pubhshed in an obscure journal. When Mendel's paper was resur- 

 rected finally in 1900, it was found desirable to reprint it in a journal 

 of wider circulation. The reader may wish to speculate on how far 

 the cause of science was retarded by the failure of Charles Darwin 

 to read Mendel's paper, although the paper had appeared sixteen 

 years before Darwin's death in 1882. Thus Darwin died without 

 knowing the mechanism by which the variations, which he had stud- 

 ied for nearly a hfetime, are inherited. 



In the prolific scientific literature of our day, articles can be ef- 

 fectively lost merely by appearing in an inappropriate journal even 

 though the j ournal itseK is well known in another field. In particular, 

 it is clearly poor policy to publish scientific research of universal inter- 

 est in journals possessing only local circulation. The distribution of 

 reprints to interested individuals is becoming an increasingly difficult 

 and ineffective procedure, and should not be considered a desirable 

 alternative in comparison with initial publication in an appropriate 

 journal. 



Theses and dissertations that are printed in hmited editions, often 

 for private circulation to a restricted list of institutions, do not pro- 

 vide an adequate form of pubhcation in the experimental sciences. 

 It is customary in this country to extract any original contributions 

 contained in dissertations and publish them separately in scientific 

 periodicals of wide circulation. In a number of universities, reprints 

 of the articles from the latter type of publication are accepted in lieu 

 of typewritten theses. The publication of original research in a 

 memorial volume also seems unwise unless the volume constitutes 

 a special issue of an established periodical in the field of interest. 



Individual workers naturally vary in their preferences as to the 

 type of journal in which they wish to present their results. It may 

 be that one worker is interested only in convincing his immediate 

 superior, perhaps an individual without a high degree of scientific com- 

 petence. Others are looking beyond the bounds of local or state lines. 

 Preferences often depend on the kind of research and on the nature 

 of the institution where it is conducted. Generally speaking, how- 

 ever, universal recognition is sought for universal tmths. Although 



