Peer review is seen as an essential component of scholarly communication, the mechanism that facilitates the publication of primary research in academic journals. Although sometimes thought of as an essential part of the journal, it is only since the second world war that peer review has been institutionalised in the form we know it today. More recently it has come under criticism on a number of fronts: it has been said that it is unreliable, unfair and fails to validate or authenticate; that it is unstandardised and idiosyncratic; that its secrecy leads to irresponsibility on the part of reviewers; that it stifles innovation; that it causes delay in publication; and so on. Perhaps the strongest criticism is that there is a lack of evidence that peer review actually works, and a lack of evidence to indicate whether the documented failings are rare exceptions or the tip of an iceberg. The survey reported here does not attempt directly to address the question of whether or not peer review works, but instead looks in detail at the experiences and perceptions of a large group of mostly senior authors, reviewers and editors (there is of course considerable overlap between these groups). Respondents were spread by region and by field of research broadly in line with the universe of authors publishing in the journals in the Thomson Scientific database, which covers the leading peer reviewed journals. The survey presents its findings in two broad areas: attitudes to peer review and current practices in peer review.

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I ntroductionWhen commentators identify the most important new social trends spawned by the personal computer revolution, e-learning is often high on the list. 1 To its advocates, it promises cheap and ubiquitous access to learning resources for any student -young or old -with a computer and an Internet connection. To those involved in creating or providing educational servicesfrom universities to commercial publisherse-learning promises a new marketplace for a next generation of learning products.But like other new technologies that have tended to over-promise and under-deliver, e-learning has gone through its own painful process of finding specific applications and willing groups of early adopters before some of its true potential could be realized. One of these applications -and the one that occupies the focus of this paper -is the growing movement of highly trained professionals engaging in continuing professional development (CPD).After a brief review of the e-learning movement as a whole, we will examine this new and growing population of CPD 'earner learners' and show why some of the drivers helping to shape this movement make it one of the most promising areas for e-learning services. Next we will show why professional societies and associations, at the heart of the CPD movement, are best positioned to develop and deliver a new generation of life-long learning products and services. What is e-learning?Defined broadly, e-learning is essentially the application of a new breed of information and communication technologies (ICT) to the delivery of education services. 2 E-learning products can therefore range from simple packages of instructional content in electronic form, to the use of familiar software pro-

We report on a research study commissioned by ALPSP into the current status of online submission and peer‐review systems, the perceptions of these by authors, referees and editors, and the impact of their introduction on journals.

The institutional repository (IR), an open Web‐based archive of scholarly material produced by the members of a defined institution, has come to the fore following the launch of DSpace at MIT at the end of 2002. Here we review recent developments in IRs and explore the impact their expansion may have on scholarly publishing.