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Many (most?) of the pdf's of journal articles are 'pictures' of text, not actual text. As a result, they will not 'fit' to the page size by reflowing the text. The only way to make them fit is to zoom the image. This can make unreadable text or a very small window on the article.
Even if you can get it to fit, I'm not sure that a six inch screen is workable. I have a Phd and I have read of few of these articles myself. The problem is that they need more mental processing than a typical fiction book. I need to see more of a page so that I can take in the page headings, tables and diagrams. In fact, sometimes these outline cues are as important to understanding the content as the particular words I am reading. Or I find myself flicking back and forth between pages to compare two passages.
For me, anyway, this would require two capabilities that do not exist today. 1) Large format readers: I agree that it is too early to count on the DX. 2) Either faster processors and displays to quickly flip pages and/or dual screen devices so that I can compare documents and compare document sections.
I have read fiction electronically for 10 years now, but for now, I wouldn't choose to read journal pdf's on an ebook Device. Of course, the journal articles you read may be different, or you may have version 2.0 of the human brain while I am stuck with the 0.5 variety - grin.
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