3 ms·

Thank god that someone with real power is finally starting to demand change. If the NIH could avoid the politics, they would require that all NIH-funded resear

by et2o 10y ago

Thank god that someone with real power is finally starting to demand change. If the NIH could avoid the politics, they would require that all NIH-funded research be published in open-access journals (now there is a requirement one year after publication) that it be made available. Elsevier's revenues last year were about 20 billion, almost the same as the entire NIH budget.

JumpCrisscross 10y ago
> If the NIH could avoid the politic Alternatively, if academics and their supporters organised and made their case a priority...
- et2o 10y ago
  There is a relatively organized "opposition." See PLoS, etc. But it's difficult–generally, advancing your career enough to actually stay in academia requires that you publish in non open-access journals. Doubly so in medicine. This is something which really has to come from the funding agencies and foundations in order to be effective.
  - freyir 10y ago
    > This is something which really has to come from the funding agencies and foundations in order to be effective. Yes. A great deal of science and engineering funding comes from the U.S. government, which ultimately is derived from the taxpayers. If taxpayers demanded access to the research they've already funded, rather than having to pay an arbitrary third-party middleman an exorbitant fee, things might change very rapidly. Unfortunately, this is pretty low on the average citizen's list of issues. There won't be a march on Washington for open access journals any time soon.