New EU study probes the scientific publishing world, an unsigned news story from the European Commission, July 6, 2004. Excerpt: "Fundamental changes in the way research is published stand to benefit both the scientific community and society at large, raising awareness of European excellence in science and technology. An EU study will look into the implications of 'open access' publishing, and the economic and technical changes in the scientific publications market....This free flow of knowledge is also at the heart of the Berlin Declaration, which was adopted in October 2003 by well over 100 science professionals from leading organisations, such as the Max Planck Society, the National Science Foundation and Science magazine, to name a few. The Declaration says, 'New possibilities of knowledge dissemination, not only through the classical form but also… increasingly through the open access paradigm, via the internet, have to be supported. We define open access as a comprehensive source of human knowledge and cultural heritage that has been approved by the scientific community.'...Today, with an explosion in the number of journals available, rising subscription fees and diminishing library budgets, good research may not be reaching wide enough audiences."
Posted by
Peter Suber at 7/05/2004 07:21:00 PM.
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.
