The New Wave of Gold OA Journals
The flood of OA journals and publishers continues worldwide, but the number of articles is still small in any field.
The Financial Burdens of the CC-BY License for Scholarly Literature
By allowing free commercial use of OA articles, current CC licenses may shift costs to researchers, presage an unsustainable information economy, and ultimately work against their stated goals. A commercially viable option might actually prove more sustainable.
Why Restrictions on Reuse Are Sometimes Important
“How Open Is It?” offers a useful set of parameters for defining “open,” but some fundamental questions remain, including the commercial and social consequences of free distribution.
Open Access Embargoes — How Long Is Long Enough?
Most publishers offering delayed free access to journal articles set their embargo period more than a decade ago. Is it time to revisit the access embargo?
Are Open Access Initiatives "Catastrophic" for Commercial Publishers?
An analyst frets that Elsevier might suffer from the trends in OA publishing and its mandates. But there’s no logical or practical reason to believe this.
Are University Block Grants the Right Way to Fund Open Access Mandates?
While block grants may be a preferred way to disperse money to fund public access mandates, their actual use may cause problems for researchers and universities.
And Another Thing — A Postscript to the Proposed List of 60 Things Publishers Do
In addition to what publishers do directly for authors and readers, they foster many collaborative and philanthropic efforts around the world.
Publicity at eLife — Are Media Embargoes Part of the Plan?
eLife is beginning to accept papers, but is it proper for them to promote papers they’ve accepted without having published the final versions? What will their approach be to media embargoes?
Driving Innovation: Finding the Balance Between Fair Reward and Profiteering
Vitriol may have obscured important points in a post last week. The growing business strategy of our era is to drive the cost of everyone else’s product to zero in order to make more money from your own product. This imbalance stifles innovation and creation.
Interview with Fred Dylla, Executive Director and CEO, the American Institute of Physics
An interview with Fred Dylla of the American Institute of Physics, and why funding is at the heart of many issues we currently face.
Complying with the RCUK Mandate . . . Or Not
Every scholarly publisher in the world suddenly has less that a year to decide what to do with article submissions from the UK. The new Research Council UK (RCUK) mandate applies to all articles submitted beginning April 1, 2013. Do […]
Echoes of England — European Commission Backs Open Access by 2014 in Statement
The EU follows in lockstep with the UK, with a statement instead of a mandate. Are the gloves about to come off?
Predictable Problems — The UK's Move to Open Access
The RCUK announces its OA plans, including a six-month embargo. Now, speculation snaps into reality, and we will see if a number of lurking unintended consequences come to pass.
Open Access – What’s a Learned Society To Do?
Learned societies are likely to be significantly affected by OA mandates, yet many remain silent, and may be ill-informed. What is their path forward?
Why Do We Allow Poor Science to Guide Policy?
Science policy is often guided by poorly-constructed and highly biased survey results. Shouldn’t we demand more?