3

Research environment

From the previous chapters it will be obvious that the

overriding premise of this book is that any publishing
business model should support researchers in the research
process aimed at the production of knowledge. This
production of knowledge itself is currently a broadly
discussed topic, not only because scientific knowledge is
crucial for the development of science but also because of
the emerging interest of society in scientific research.
Researchers therefore try to find a balance between the
future roles of science and society in the production of
knowledge. Production of knowledge is also at stake in the
discussion on e-science, as mentioned in the Introduction.
The production of scientific knowledge requires a specific
organisation (Kurek et al., 2006). This organisation creates
conditions to perform scientific research. A major condition
is a transparent system of sharing research results that are
made public as scientific information. This organisation is
made up of the research environment, consisting of
researchers sharing scientific information.
In sharing information and claiming intellectual property
researchers strive for recognition and reputation in their
research environment (Merton, 1957; Hagstrom, 1965,
1974) as well as other rewards resulting from it, e.g. tenure
(Altbach, 1996). An important aspect of scientific
information, just like any information for an organisation, is

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