In a bid to speed up the dissemination of scientific discoveries, the European Commission said Thursday it plans to shake up the old-fashioned world of scientific publishing by throwing its weight behind a move to make scientific research results freely available on the Internet.

Until now results have been published in journals along with peer reviews of the research. Publishers of scientific, technical and medical journals argue that the peer review system wouldn't work as reliably if results were published willy-nilly online.

"Nobody will benefit if a major European industry is undermined and with it the peer review system upon which science and society depend," said the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (STM) in a statement ahead of Thursday's announcement by the Commission.

The publishers, which include giants like Reed Elsevier and McGraw-Hill, cosigned a petition to Europe's lawmakers dubbed the Brussels Declaration, calling for leniency.

The Commission is hosting a two-day conference starting Thursday with the publishers as well as with advocates of a free, Internet-based model for scientific publishing.

In its statement, the Commission made it clear that it favors freer access to research results. It is planning to spend about $111 million over the next two years improving the digital storage and online accessibility of scientific results.

Digital technologies are reshaping how research information is viewed, analyzed and eventually published, the Commission said. For example, about 90% of all science journals are now available online, often by subscription. But digital technologies are also leading to more "open access" publishing. This provides free and wide access to publications online. Better access to research data also opens the way to new types of uses and services, often through the reusing of past results as the raw material for new experimentation.

However, the Commission added that online access to current scientific information does not guarantee its future availability. Digital information has a limited lifetime and needs to be maintained over time. Better tools and organizational steps are necessary to ensure digital preservation and thus prevent the loss of importance scientific information, the Commission said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.