For future reference.

"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered, thepoint is to discover them. " Will there be a need to expand the reference system in published scientific papers to encompass the wealth of information available on the World Wide Web (WWW)? Some examples in environmental research can be used to examine this concept and compare it with conventional citation policies. Consider an obscure paper published by this author 11 years ago (1) and compare it to a recent 1996 editorial (2). These papers represent a decade of research, with the first citation appearing as hard copy in various indexes like Current Contents or in catalogs like Index Medicus. Finding this 1985 journal article and obtaining copies for inspection and verification entails visits to the library or intensive research by library staff, all involving considerable time, multiple people , and sometimes prohibitive cost. A closer inspection of the 1996 editorial on "Friendly Fire" [EHP 104:682 (1996)] reveals a different kind of reference list that cites URLs (universal resource locator) located on the WWW. Placement of the editorial onto the Internet as is the current practice of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives (3) enables use of hypertext links to sites that yield further information on related topics. The new process of publication preparation transforms scientific writing, literature review, and citations to a new plane of consciousness for the writer and for the reader. Verification of data, proofing of citations, and examination of hypotheses by comparison with related publications becomes a desktop computer activity that is both complicated by the wealth of information and simplified by the immediacy of the connections. A journey down a hypertext pathway will serve as a concrete example of scientific investigation. One can pick virtually any word from the title or a general concept to get started. Suppose we use leukemia from the tide of the journal article cited above. Use a search engine from one of the internet browsers, software that is free to any user, and then enter the word. The response is immediate and virtually unending, given that the user can remain in the tree of information for days. Specifically, a search for leukemia yields entirely too much, with the result: "Lycos search: leukemia 66,557,959 unique documents in catalog. Your query resulted in 4,691 relevant documents on 470 pages." Search the number 1 hyperlink among the dozens provided, which is listed as 100% …