Improving PDF readability of scientific papers on computer screens.

Reading scientific papers in portable document format (PDF)-columned formats on computer screens is sometimes daunting and unfriendly. This is mainly due to the fact that PDF-columned texts are often truncated from the top or the bottom of pages so that readers have to scroll up–down repeatedly in the same page to get the whole text read. To make the reading process as smooth as possible, PDF viewers should be designed as responsive tools with responsive layouts that should automatically adapt the amount of readable text to the sizes of the displaying monitors so that readers will not waste time in repetitive vertical and horizontal scrolling movements within the same page. Here, I discuss such a problem-solving proposal that could be implemented in PDF viewers to improve the readability of PDF-columned texts and to make the reading process as flexible and painless as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]