Abstract: The science base in the developing world cannot be strengthened without access to the global library of research information. Currently, this is nearly impossible due to the high costs of journal subscriptions, with the result that even the most prestigious institutes in poorer countries cannot afford to buy the journals they need. Many initiatives have been started to resolve the access problem, but progress has been slow and, since they are generally dependent on grants or subsidies, are unlikely to be long-term solutions. With the advent of the Open Access (OA) initiative, the outlook for building science capacity in developing countries has improved significantly. In particular, the establishment of interoperable open access archives that is now underway by a rapidly growing number of institutes opens opportunities for true global knowledge exchange. OA archives are described and progress in both developed and developing regions is recorded, concluding with recommendations of what remains to be done to achieve the goal of free access to all publicly-funded research publications.
SciDev also posted a short version of this article, November 14, 2005.
Update. In a posting to SOAF today (11/15), the authors explain that "[t]he article was originally written at the invitation of the editor of New Review of Information Networking for a special issue on open access. The publisher of the journal, Taylor and Francis, originally agreed to provide open access to the issue. After the paper was peer-reviewed and accepted for publication, we were informed that the paper was no longer going into the special OA issue due to insufficient submissions. The paper was to be included in a regular issue instead and as a result open access to the article would not be granted. After learning that we are not permitted to archive the final version of the paper, we decided to withdrew the paper from Taylor and Francis. To ensure that the paper is widely read, particularly by those who can't afford the subscription, we submitted the paper to SciDev.Net, an online publication dedicated to "the provision of reliable and authoritative information on science- and technology-related issues that impact on the economic and social development of developing countries."
Posted by
Peter Suber at 11/14/2005 03:37:00 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.
