Further to to your question, "What evidence do you have that few people read the full text of research papers?", this illustrates the weakness of process indicators in measuring the impact of information initiatives. When UN agencies or NGOs distribute X copies of their latest guidance on a topic, success is often measured by the number of copies distributed, when of course it is the number of copies (and number of pages) that are actually read that has some relevance - not to mention the actions the texts inspire (e.g., Do you improve your diet and take up exercise, etc.), or the desired impact of the texts.
Best,
Chris
Chris Zielinski
Centre for Global Health, University of Winchester, UK and
President, World Association of Medical Editors (WAME)
Blogs; http://ziggytheblue.wordpress.com and http://ziggytheblue.tumblr.com
Publications: http://www.researchgate.net and https://winchester.academia.edu/ChrisZielinski/
HIFA Profile: Chris Zielinski held senior positions at the World Health Organization for 15 years, in Africa, WHOs Geneva Headquarters, and India, and earlier in other UN-system organizations working in writing, media, publishing, knowledge management, and intellectual property. He also spent three years as Chief Executive of the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society (looking after the intellectual property revenues of all UK authors and journalists). Chris was the founder of the ExtraMED project (Third World biomedical journals on CD-ROM), and managed the Gates Foundation-supported Health Information Centres project. At WHO he was appointed to the Ethical Review Committee, and was an originator of the African Health Observatory during his years in Brazzaville. With interests in the information, and computer ethics and bioethics, Chris has edited numerous books and journals and worked as a translator. Now working independently, Chris has recently finished writing a travel book called Afreekinout. Email: chris AT chriszielinski.com