Hands Across the Screen: Why Scrollbars are on the Right and Other Stories
http://www.uigarden.net/english/hands-across-the-screen-why-scrollbars-are-on-the-right-and-other-stories

Dix, Alan
uiGarden
2005

Abstract:

Why are scrollbars on the right, and is it the best place for them? There are good reasons to think that the left-hand side may be the better choice. In this short paper we'll talk about two cases, from which we can find: the best placement does not look right when you see it statically, but feels right when it is used.