Abstract

AIDS: The dissemination of AIDS research and treatment information must be improved. The International Conference on AIDS in Yokohama provided a successful model of the use of HIVNet, an AIDS computer organization. Access to conference results were significantly enhanced when HIVNet placed transcripts of presentations online. The same strategy can be implemented with conference abstracts, thereby making them internationally-accessible on the Internet. Barriers to the flow of information include the fear of unpublished studies data being stolen and rejected abstracts being omitted. Smart peer review, a proposed computerized system, may allow scientists to release their work publicly, yet still have the work be reviewed and modified.