Report: Excerpts from "Defining and certifying electronic publication in science" - A proposal to the international association of scientific, technical and medical publishers

At the request of the International Association of Scientific, Technical an d Medical Publishers, an international working group prepared a paper on wh at constitutes publication in science in the electronic environment. The ex cerpts below address the importance of defining publication in science, the distinctions between first publication and definitive publication, the cha llenges inherent in this publication process, and the necessity of preservi ng the bibliographic record.