3 ms·

Do you really think it costs $2000 to publish a PDF on the Internet these days? I'm talking about putting the documents on S3 with a simple paginated frontend

Do you really think it costs $2000 to publish a PDF on the Internet these days? I'm talking about putting the documents on S3 with a simple paginated frontend that would allow searching the name/synopsis. You must work for the government?

detaro 10y ago
igf isn't saying that the technical cost of publishing the PDF is $2000. They are saying that it is what journals charge for the right to do so while also publishing in them. And yes, many academics will rather use any funds they can to pay that than not publish in those journals, so unless there is some widely-coordinated move to force the issue funds will go there for now. While grants can enforce open-access publications, forbidding publication in other venues seems a lot more contentious.
- iamleppert 10y ago
  I guess I just don't understand this kind of attitude. If it was done with public funds, it should be made available to the public. We have the means and capability to do so now. The point of research is to be useful, even if it doesn't immediately have an application in the present, it could form the basis of something new in the future. Not having easy access to this institutional knowledge decreases the value to the public, or putting it behind a paywall and restricting access could prevent a non-standard performer or individual contributor from obtaining access and thereby benefiting. I think the motivations in the academic world is very flawed. If I were an academic my goal would be to provide my work to the largest audience I possibly could, so there likelihood of someone benefiting from it would be the highest. This is especially true for research that has no present application. It should be highly accessible and available to anyone if the public has paid for the academic to live, eat, and generally do the work.

3 ms·

Do you really think it costs $2000 to publish a PDF on the Internet these days? I'm talking about putting the documents on S3 with a simple paginated frontend

by iamleppert 10y ago

detaro 10y ago
igf isn't saying that the technical cost of publishing the PDF is $2000. They are saying that it is what journals charge for the right to do so while also publishing in them. And yes, many academics will rather use any funds they can to pay that than not publish in those journals, so unless there is some widely-coordinated move to force the issue funds will go there for now. While grants can enforce open-access publications, forbidding publication in other venues seems a lot more contentious.
- iamleppert 10y ago
  I guess I just don't understand this kind of attitude. If it was done with public funds, it should be made available to the public. We have the means and capability to do so now. The point of research is to be useful, even if it doesn't immediately have an application in the present, it could form the basis of something new in the future. Not having easy access to this institutional knowledge decreases the value to the public, or putting it behind a paywall and restricting access could prevent a non-standard performer or individual contributor from obtaining access and thereby benefiting. I think the motivations in the academic world is very flawed. If I were an academic my goal would be to provide my work to the largest audience I possibly could, so there likelihood of someone benefiting from it would be the highest. This is especially true for research that has no present application. It should be highly accessible and available to anyone if the public has paid for the academic to live, eat, and generally do the work.