The Internet as a new medium for the sciences? The effects of Internet use on traditional scientific communication media among social scientists in Germany

Scientific communication takes place within two main fields: research and publication. Whereas twentieth century audio‐visual media did not become established in the scientific communication system, the Internet, with its variety of communication options, is able to enter both fields of communication and has even revolutionised this communication system to some extent. The investigation of this relationship is based on data from a study of social scientists taken in Berlin in autumn 1999. The Internet substitutes written communication media and complements forms of spoken communication in the field of research. It also complements traditional publisher‐oriented forms of publication and is even a substitute for works that have previously avoided publication. Therefore, the Internet should not be regarded as a new alternative to traditional and institutionalised structures of communication of scientific publications, as it has already become institutionalised in the field of research as a medium of interpersonal communication.