期刊論文是學術溝通（scholarly communication)的重要管道之一，本文探 討學術期刊的發展，同儕審查制度和期刊的編輯與出版。網際網路的普及改善 了資訊傳播，而電子期刊的產生，對於期刊論文出版的影響，如投稿、同儕審 查、著作權和榮譽的認定、以及來自傳統出版利益的糾葛，這些都是本文想要 探討的主題。

Journals are one of the most important ways for scholarly communication. The purpose of this article is to discuss the development of academic journals, peer review mechanism, and the system of journal editing and publishing affairs. The prevalence of the Internet, in particular the appearance of electronic journals, affects the behavior of authors, readers and libraries towards disseminating information. Its impact on peer review system, authorship and the prestige and traditional publication profit for the publishers and vendors are also discussed in this paper.