Plastibytes

Scientific journal articles tend to be comprehensive and written to allow experts in the field to reproduce the results of a study. This format of content delivery may make it difficult for the non-expert reader to distill the essence of the work and, for those with a deep understanding of the subject matter, the density of the research paper does not necessarily promote an efficient use of time.

The structure of a journal article is derived from its “heritage”. Traditionally, editors placed significant limits on number of words that could be included in an article and there was a strict hierarchy on how content was to be presetned.^1,2 Even today, journal articles are written as a linear presentation that often excludes video, audio, three-dimensional illustrations and interactive exercises, all content that would serve to expand a reader's understanding of the subject (Figure 1) (Figure 2)

Figure 1. Traditional linear format of journal article.

Figure 2. 3-dimensional format of delivery.

To increase the value of a published study to a larger readership, we contend that e-journals be written to take advantage of a 3-dimensional format of delivery. The top tier of information represents an abridged version of the article and is limited to 500 words. More detailed content is accessed through hyperlinks to a second tier of information. The second tier of information has a varied structure that is dependent on the construct of the article. This tier should not be viewed as distinct silos of information but as an overlapping repository of content. The third dimension of each article represents facets of the article that are related to “social media”. Here, correspondences with other research scientists is encouraged and considered an important part of the publication.

The 3-dimensional format of content delivery has several benefits which include:    

1. Detailed information is available on demand rather than as a requirement.    

2. An article can be viewed at multiple levels of complexity, not only in the form of the most complex.    

3. Content is more accessible to a wider variety of readers.    

4. Community participation is encouraged, a feature that can lead to “crowd sourcing”² of ideas and future investigation.

We believe that this format of content delivery holds promise and we encourage you to help us move forward by implementing this format in your next submission to ePlasty. To assist you in this endeavor, we have created a new tab on the author submission screen called “Plastibytes.” Clicking on this tab will provide an interactive set of instructions that will automatically format your submission.