Publishing high-quality articles within one day: a new challenge in communicating science and technology

The publication of scientific and technical papers commonly takes so much time that some of the manuscripts lose their significance before publication, much scientific research is duplicated unnecessarily, and unduly long delays exist before new findings can be implemented. Immediate publication is frequently proposed as a solution, but no ideas have been put forward so far that seem realizable in practice. It seems possible to restrict the delay in publication to one day only, is an appropriate electronic infrastructure is built. This infrastructure should include a worldwide network of referees, who are formally employed, and professional, full-time employed editors; refereeing should take place immediately after an electronically submitted manuscript has been found to fulfil all technical requirements, and editing should take place immediately after a positive advice by the referees. Immediate action is possible since the referees and editors live all over the world, so that work can be done at regular working house. Manuscripts can thus be handled within one day, without any compromise regarding the quality of the text to be published. The proposed infrastructure could save valuable time in those cases in which time is an important factor.