33. International system of scientific publications

Scientific publications - are not the articles about science or on scientific theme in popular journal. Scientific literature or scientific publications represent a statement of results of the original experimental or theoretical investigations in the original articles, and also their generalization or analysis in reviews, monographs, and they intended, first of all, for professionals-researchers. Articles are placed in professional scientific journals.

For the modern scientific publications the following peculiarities are significant:

1. The most part of articles about original research is written in accordance with the definite format: introduction, methods, results and discussions (IMRAD format).

2. There are total references for other scientific works in the publications so that a reader can independently find the work, which is cited (references, citations).

3. There are illustrations in the publications, and the illustrations are described in the text (tables, charts, schematic, diagrams, graphs, line-drawings, images).

4. There is a detailed description of the way the results were obtained (methodics, theoretical deductions, discussions, statistical treatment of data) and how the authors came to the conclusions stated in the publication (methods, materials).

5. The most valuable publications are those which are published in peer- reviewed journals. In such journals the manuscripts are published only after they have been considered and approved, at least, by two specialists (peer-reviewers).

6. The publication is always open access for all readers without any restrictions (permanent available for public).

34. About the history of scientific publications

Long before the time when articles in scientific journals became the mean of communication among scientists, the results of research were stated in scientific books, called treatises (from Latin tractatus - subjected to consideration). Beyond all doubt exactly books, not journals, accompanied the beginning of scientific revolution. The direct predecessors of the scientific journals in the 17th century were learned letters, which the scientists exchanged. The most famous are Galilean letters about sunspots and planets' orbits, which were then published as a collection, that is a book. Galilean's letters were not personal messages to friends or colleagues, but they were essays, describing results of experiments and observations, and intended for wide public interested in it. Men and scientists contribute to effective and fast dissemination of such scientific notes; they rewrite and then distribute these messages to researchers and friends. The position of secretary appeared with the appearing of scientific communities, the duties of the secretary were a copying and a distribution of the letters of the community members and researchers. In march 1665 the first issue of the scientific journal «Philosophical Transactions» was published. There were about 20 pages in the first issues of the journal, circulation is 1200 copies. To 1677 there were Newton, Boyle, Hooke, Leeuwenhoek, Huygens, Leibnitz, Galileo among the publications' authors of the journal. The requirements to the style of scientific publications were already formulated then - without overstatement, verbosity, metaphors and allegories, almost mathematical dry style. The journal «Philosophical Transactions» is a authoritative scientific journals nowadays.