Despite the recognition of electronic journals as important means of publication, there is, as yet, little rapid movement to this medium. In this paper we shall review progress in the establishment of a new,peer-reviewed electronic journal and place it in the setting of the nature of the scientific research paper. Glacial geology and geomorphology (GGG) was conceived from the first as a pure e- journal (i.e. no paper-product counterpart). It has faced problems of establishment as a new journal in its own right as well as those concerned with publishing in a new medium. There have also been technological challenges in establishing itself in an area which, despite conjectures from many areas, there might well be no set or ideal form of an e-journal. Indeed, it would seem that the adaptive nature of the technology is very important. The main controlling factors about development so far have been related to the human preconceptions of what an e-journal should or might be. In some form these may often beconsidered to be 'conservative' or even retrogressive. In the paper we shall touch upon the technology used in the establishment of GGG but place emphasis on the limitations or restrictions which 'vested interests' impose. We believe that these are as important as any constraints imposed by hardware or software n the establishment of this journal.