Applying the Creative Commons
Online journals designed to make peer-reviewed scientific discovery papers available to the widest possible audience are in the works by a group of scientists pursuing a non-profit model for reviewing and publishing the research material. According to an article in the New York Times:
A group of prominent scientists is mounting an electronic challenge to the leading scientific journals, accusing them of holding back the progress of science by restricting online access to their articles so they can reap higher profits.
Current scientific print journals say they have very high standards, which can be costly, but they also have reaped huge rewards according to the Times article:
The Dutch-British conglomerate Reed Elsevier Group, the world's largest academic publisher, posted a 30 percent profit last year on its science publishing activities. Science took in $34 million last year on advertising alone.
Me. I wish them well. One of the sources quoted in the article says that only experts care about this stuff anyway and experts already reside in places that buy subscriptions. I'll go on record here. I care.
Comments
I care too!
Something like that would be a boon to science-fiction writers, especially, who may not reside in labs or academic depts that already buy subscriptions, or even near libraries that do.
Posted by: TM(tm) | December 21, 2002 11:10 AM
Yes, exactly.
Besides, the point of scholarship is to share. We can't build new knowledge if we don't know what the existing knowledge of the day even is.
Posted by: debco | December 21, 2002 07:54 PM