New Journals, Free Online, Let Scholars Speak Out

So, how is the online environment working out for the faculty themselves?  Not while they are in the classroom, but for their own scholarship?

My professors, including my dissertation adviser, in graduate school were pretty darn good trendsetters--they started an online academic journal quite a few years ago.  Called Planning and Markets, this is a fully-refereed electronic journal that started in 1998.  Yes, last century :)  But, for some reason, new "issues" stopped after six years.  I should find out from Harry or Jim whatever happened ...

Of course, I am all in favor of not only online journals, but also making them free.  Primarily because knowledge ought to be freed from anybody's control--with appropriate copyright enforcement.  The Chronicle of Higher Education has a lengthy story on the drive for freely accessible online journals.  It leads with the following sentences:

He seems genial, but John Willinsky is a dangerous man.
As a leader in the development and spread of "open access" scholarly journals, which are published online and offered free, the Stanford University education professor is not just helping to transform academic publishing. He is also equipping scholars around the world with a tool to foment revolution.
"This is a strong vehicle for academic freedom," says Mr. Willinsky, whose Public Knowledge Project offers free journal-publishing software to academics.

Notice, Mary, that the guy leading this effort is an education professor? :)