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I've never published a paper, and can't understand why we need actors like Elsevier and other paywalls for scientific research publication. What motivates scien

by yati 11y ago

I've never published a paper, and can't understand why we need actors like Elsevier and other paywalls for scientific research publication. What motivates scientists to use a publisher's services? Can't these be replicated by setting up a government publication house?

DarkLinkXXXX 11y ago
To be concise, your qualifications for a university may depend on what journals you publish your articles in, and how "prestigious" they are.
- johansch 11y ago
  The obvious solution would be for countries to pass laws that force any publicly funded research to be published for free download in addition to whatever fancy journal the researches submits them to.
logfromblammo 11y ago
If each academic research institution can run its own website, there is no particular reason they could not publish every last research report they produce themselves, and use a common, open-source program to handle the draft commentary, editing, and peer review. A government publication house would overly centralize things, and would organize research by geography and politics rather than subject matter. Science is a worldwide endeavor, and ought to be insulated from political influence as much as we are able to do so. And we certainly don't need any more juicy nexus points, dripping with extractable rents, throbbing and pulsating for the benefit of the leeches. One academic publications office per university or independent lab would certainly cost a bit more in overhead, but nowhere near as much as what is currently lost to the publisher conglomerates for both publication and access. The aggregation function of the journals could be fulfilled by a nomination and community moderation process among the researchers and students of any particular discipline. Publishing via university web site would also allow linking to related files, such as the raw data, conference video, audio, or transcripts, executable simulator or demonstration programs, and related research, all with permanent, canonical URLs. While I am not an academic, I notice that many of the journal-curated publications (that I can read for free) have only static diagrams, whereas if you go to the researcher's web site, you can see animated illustrations, executable programs, and lecture slide decks or videos. When the mission of science is to not only advance the frontiers of human knowledge, but also explain what you did and to disseminate the new knowledge to others, a plain old PDF locked up behind a paywall might not be the best way to do that.
effie 11y ago
> What motivates scientists to use a publisher's services? The lowly human desires - prestige, career advancement, money, power. Achieving publications with highly ranked journal is necessary for keeping contracts with university and for grant money coming in your direction. And so lots of researchers get complacent and try not to think too hard about the current system. Changing it for better one may require legal action by the government. Compulsory free copy of publicly funded research paper would be great start.

by yati 11y ago

DarkLinkXXXX 11y ago

To be concise, your qualifications for a university may depend on what journals you publish your articles in, and how "prestigious" they are.

johansch 11y ago
The obvious solution would be for countries to pass laws that force any publicly funded research to be published for free download in addition to whatever fancy journal the researches submits them to.

logfromblammo 11y ago

If each academic research institution can run its own website, there is no particular reason they could not publish every last research report they produce themselves, and use a common, open-source program to handle the draft commentary, editing, and peer review. A government publication house would overly centralize things, and would organize research by geography and politics rather than subject matter. Science is a worldwide endeavor, and ought to be insulated from political influence as much as we are able to do so. And we certainly don't need any more juicy nexus points, dripping with extractable rents, throbbing and pulsating for the benefit of the leeches. One academic publications office per university or independent lab would certainly cost a bit more in overhead, but nowhere near as much as what is currently lost to the publisher conglomerates for both publication and access. The aggregation function of the journals could be fulfilled by a nomination and community moderation process among the researchers and students of any particular discipline. Publishing via university web site would also allow linking to related files, such as the raw data, conference video, audio, or transcripts, executable simulator or demonstration programs, and related research, all with permanent, canonical URLs. While I am not an academic, I notice that many of the journal-curated publications (that I can read for free) have only static diagrams, whereas if you go to the researcher's web site, you can see animated illustrations, executable programs, and lecture slide decks or videos. When the mission of science is to not only advance the frontiers of human knowledge, but also explain what you did and to disseminate the new knowledge to others, a plain old PDF locked up behind a paywall might not be the best way to do that.

effie 11y ago

> What motivates scientists to use a publisher's services? The lowly human desires - prestige, career advancement, money, power. Achieving publications with highly ranked journal is necessary for keeping contracts with university and for grant money coming in your direction. And so lots of researchers get complacent and try not to think too hard about the current system. Changing it for better one may require legal action by the government. Compulsory free copy of publicly funded research paper would be great start.