[FredPret]

Ah, that makes more sense. I imagined scientists just reading the whole thing start-to-finish.

I still think a flexible layout is best. If you like multi-columns and have a wide screen, why not display 12 columns next to each other?

With PDF this is not possible. With HTML the content can in principle be sliced and diced how you like it.

[fuck_google]

One can also view PDF pages side by side, which works pretty well with a 4K monitor.