The net serves great purposes ... like making life more efficient. That too, for bad conscience. See e.g. this list over the most downloaded articles from the International Security site: This list is updated each day based on the volume of full text downloads.
Track Citation for selected articles
 | 2. | Osirak Redux? Assessing Israeli Capabilities to Destroy Iranian Nuclear Facilities (2674 times) Whitney Raas, Austin LongAbstract | PDF (122 KB) | PDF Plus (124 KB) | Add to Favorites |
|
| 3. | The Future of U.S.-China Relations: Is Confict Inevitable? (2552 times) Aaron L. FriedbergAbstract | PDF (191 KB) | PDF Plus (205 KB) | Add to Favorites |
|
| 4. | The Unipolar Illusion Revisited: The Coming End of the United States' Unipolar Moment (2180 times) Christopher LayneAbstract | PDF (150 KB) | PDF Plus (161 KB) | Add to Favorites |
|
| 5. | How al-Qaida Ends: The Decline and Demise of Terrorist Groups (1987 times) Audrey Kurth CroninAbstract | PDF (175 KB) | PDF Plus (185 KB) | Add to Favorites |
|
| 7. | The End of MAD? The Nuclear Dimension of U.S. Primacy (1458 times) Keir A. Lieber, Daryl G. PressAbstract | PDF (240 KB) | PDF Plus (245 KB) | Add to Favorites |
|
| 8. | Who "Won" Libya? The Force-Diplomacy Debate and Its Implications for Theory and Policy (1279 times) Bruce W. Jentleson, Christopher A. WhytockAbstract | PDF (164 KB) | PDF Plus (171 KB) | Add to Favorites |
|
| 9. | Regime Insecurity and International Cooperation: Explaining China's Compromises in Territorial Disputes (1223 times) M. Taylor FravelAbstract | PDF (169 KB) | PDF Plus (178 KB) | Add to Favorites |
|
| 10. | Building a Republican Peace: Stabilizing States after War (1070 times) Michael BarnettAbstract | PDF (118 KB) | PDF Plus (127 KB) | Add to Favorites |
|
| 12. | Getting Religion? The Puzzling Case of Islam and Civil War (830 times) Monica Duffy ToftAbstract | PDF (198 KB) | PDF Plus (203 KB) | Add to Favorites |
|
 | 13. | Fostering Stability or Creating a Monster? The Rise of China and U.S. Policy toward East Asia (717 times) Thomas J. ChristensenAbstract | PDF (184 KB) | PDF Plus (194 KB) | Add to Favorites |
|
| 15. | Governance without Government in Somalia: Spoilers, State Building, and the Politics of Coping (542 times) Ken MenkhausAbstract | PDF (341 KB) | PDF Plus (162 KB) | Add to Favorites |
|
| 18. | China Engages Asia: Reshaping the Regional Order (447 times) David ShambaughCitation | PDF (164 KB) | PDF Plus (170 KB) | Add to Favorites |
|
| 20. | Human Security: Paradigm Shift or Hot Air? (412 times) Roland ParisCitation | PDF (135 KB) | PDF Plus (139 KB) | Add to Favorites |
Not only do you discover things you didn't read. You also see that things you saw in the TOC and thought "nah, doesn't matter, no time" and now its here, being downloaded and the market always tells the truth, eh, so maybe you should read it anyway? Either that, or the list is just an expression of what's free and what's not. All of the Top 12 articles are free: the first paying article is Thomas J. Christensen's "Fostering Stability or Creating a Monster? The Rise of China and U.S. Policy toward East Asia", who then wins the contest for being most attractive in spite of the cost.
The great thing about the list is the daily update. Now, you kinda see in the spirit how several of the authors will click in every day to follow their stock in the trade, nervously tracking their fortunes on the waves of academia.
That of course leaves open all kinds of ridiculous possibilities, like repeats of the record promoting business where promotors would buy endless stacks of records to get their singles high enough on the charts to get them airtime and make that generate some real sales... Will a Professor be tempted to pull several thousand downloads through his students? Can you make money with a company that will enable academics to buy enhanced visibility through automated and timed downloads?
No comments:
Post a Comment