Therefore, authors who continue to publish in toll-access journals and do not self-archive can be said to be aiming for obscurity. In other words, an author in this position is pursuing a course of action which is very likely to decrease the probably of the author's work being read and cited.
It is logical to apply the same concept to journals and publishers that are not adjusting to the open access environment....
Also see Heather's follow-up post on why plagiarists might aim for obscurity:
...If an author has plagiarized another, then deliberately seeking a venue with the most restricted possible access might be the best wag to Aim for Obscurity, to minimize the odds of being caught....
OA deters plagiarism....[P]lagiarism from OA sources is the easiest kind to detect. Not all plagiarists are smart, of course, but the smart ones are steering clear of OA sources.
For the same reason, they'll avoid OA dissemination for any of their own works containing plagiarized passages....
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
