The main purposes of research publication are to ratify and disseminate new knowledge, to preserve it for future reference, to identify important contributions, and to synthesize individual results into larger, more unified bodies of knowledge. Publication also serves to recognize researchers and, alas, as a basis for employment decisions.

Our current conference/journal publication model bundles these objectives in a particular way. Many suggestions for incremental improvements to this model are circulating, but few of them rethink the bundling itself. Panelists in this session will discuss more radical changes to the publication model and how the new models would better serve our research.