I like what Paper Critic is doing – it’s going in the right direction. Still, though, you are dependent on Mendeley to have a paper in the system in the first place, which may or may not happen. Also, you need to Mendeley-ize yourself, and as we discussed, once something becomes tied to an external app…well, it can work.

I think Nature Precedings failed because, well, no one used it. I know a few people who did, but there was little outreach to build an audience that used it. I think when you’re trying to affect a cultural shift, you’re going to need to push a little. It’s those first few months that are most crucial, and yet, I didn’t see any major push in our community – so I’m not sure if it was elsewhere as well.