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If scientists want to be volunteers and publish openly, that can happen today. Nothing stops them. That's the Wikipedia model, is it not?
by robertlagrant 1y ago
If scientists want to be volunteers and publish openly, that can happen today. Nothing stops them. That's the Wikipedia model, is it not?
- jiggawatts 1y agoThe institutions that they work for have been thoroughly bribed to make that difficult. You can't get tenure unless you publish in a "reputable" paper, for example. For IT people, the rough equivalent is why a 1 KB file costs $50/year despite containing not much more than a random number and a text field verified with a single API call. Sure, you can have a HTTPS certificate for free! You can! Just not through Azure Key Vault CA automation, because Let's Encrypt couldn't afford the kick-back to a middle manager in Redmond. Or more charitably, because "there's no margin on free". Never underestimate the ability and willingness of billions of managers to insert themselves into the middle and collect rent on everybody below them.
- robertlagrant 1y agoIf they're working for institutions then that's not the same as volunteering for Wikipedia. Wikipedia is staffed by volunteers. I'm replying to a comment that negatively compares science publishing to Wikipedia. What stops a scientist publishing work voluntarily on a free platform?