Frequently Asked Questions

Well, at least once.

**Is MIJ-NSR really free?**

The short answer is YES.

The long answer is THERE AIN'T NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH. Publishing in MIJ-NSR is not free- you have to pay publications charges, and you have to put in some extra effort on the formatting. Sponsors contribute money to help support the enterprise, too. And if you find the journal useful, then you should feel some obligation not to freeload.

**Is MIJ-NSR refereed?**

YES.

If you're interested in the mechanics, look at the reviewer's form

What is the correct format for citing an article in the internet journal? Do you have a standard abbreviation for the journal name? And how does one refer to an article? (there are no page numbers...) Should the URL be included?

At the bottom of each front page of published articles is given the preferred reference form. We like to pretend that our article numbers are page numbers. So, article 10 of volume 1 would be MRS Internet J. Nitride Semicond. Res. 1, 10 (1996).

The URL can be included, depending on the style of journal where the citation is being printed. It seems to me that the current standard for URL's is rather cumbersome.

What formats does MIJ-NSR accept?

Eventually, MIJ-NSR will accept any format, but how much it will cost, and how good it looks in the pre-print stage will depend on the format. Translators will be used to convert various formats to the journals own format. The first translator is for an RTF (Rich Text Format) style sheet. RTF is an interchange format supported by word processors such as Microsoft Word and WordPerfect. The second translated format is for the RevTeX flavor of LaTeX. This translator is under development, and has been used to convert two published papers so far. The easiest way to deal with other formats will most likely be to have someone retype them from paper.

Will papers which have appeared elsewhere be accepted?

No. That would be illegal under copyright law. However, submission of full-length papers which have been partially published in conference proceedings, particularly the MRS Nitride Symposia, is encouraged. The journal also has listings of nitride-related papers which have appeared elsewhere, contributed by authors. The object is to be as useful as possible to the nitride researcher.

Will we allow papers published in the e-journal to be published in"real" journals?

No. The intent is not to be a pre-print archive for other journals. Pre-print archives exist in the gray area of copyright law. Sooner or later, the print journals will realize that the archives constitute a threat to their existence, lawyers will make a lot of money, and the technical community will suffer.

Secondary publications, such as proceedings volumes or CD-ROMS derived from the e-journal represent a possible source of revenue.

Is the e-journal "archival"?

This question is really two different questions.

Question (a) Will the e-journal be accessible in 50 years?

Question (b) Will the e-journal count for anything when the authors come up for tenure?

Answer (a) MIJ-NSR will be much more accessible in 50 years than paper journals such as JMR and JAP. Apart from the fact that libraries of the future will have either incinerated, scanned or warehoused JMR and JAP, the e-journal will already have been converted to a form suitable for zero-cost storage and transmission. By writing an SGML Document-type definition (DTD) for our base format, we will assure that our papers can be read in the future.

Answer (b) What really counts for tenure decisions is demonstrable impact: how many people read the paper and the influence that it has. MIJ-NSR can actually measure the popularity of its papers and publish ratings and discussions. The impact will be manifest.

Is MIJ-NSR indexed by science citation and chem abstracts?

Yes. We can generate the data they need if that helps. (Actually, we have a print run of the journal for the exclusive benefit of these indexing services. Ironic, isn't it?) In the long term they're irrelevant. Our open access policy and architecture makes it very easy for web-based indexing robots to index us. As e-journals become common, central indexing services will arise to cover all e-journals. These will be either for-fee services or distributed indexing protocols. The journal supports existing internet indexing and robot-assistance protocols. You could also ask yourself whether traditional journals will get indexed by google, Yahoo, Alta Vista, or MSN. Even for "Online" journals with non-open architectures, (such as APL Online) the answer is NO. For MIJ-NSR the answer is YES!

What is the publication date of an e-paper?

The publication date is the date the "preprint" is first linked to the journal.

How can I help out?

The most important thing you can do is to publish yor work in MIJ-NSR.
You can register as a subscriber and indicate your willingness to referee papers.
You may wish to consider writing news articles for MIJ-NSR.

Can we start a journal like MIJ-NSR for topic x?

Sure.

I've demonstrated the world's best blue laser. Why should I publish it in MIJ-NSR?

Where does a 1000 lb gorilla publish scholarly articles? Anywhere he wants to! There are several good reasons to choose MIJ-NSR.

It would benefit MIJ-NSR. MIJ-NSR is good (we hope).
The instant publication in MIJ-NSR will help beat your competitors to the punch, since they've sent their work to some other journal.

What's with the Japanese at the bottom of the top page?

OK, it's a stunt. If your browser is configured to surf in Japanese, You can see a Japanese version of the top page. This is not to imply that MIJ-NSR will do Japanese, it's just to give you an idea of the sort of things that can be done, if only someone were willing to do them.

Eric Hellman