Journals feel the change, RTDinfo: Magazine on European Research, November 2005. Unsigned. Excerpt:
The arrival of the internet has thrown into disarray all the operating principles behind scientific publishing that have traditionally governed the quality and integrity of knowledge as well as access to it. For almost five years now, a debate has been raging, involving not only the publishers but all those with a stake in scientific communication and who are feeling the impact of the digital revolution....[The subscription-based system of distribution] is now coming under pressure from two quite different phenomena. On the one hand, the increase in publishing activity and in its cost, due to the exponential increase in knowledge, is leading to a saturation of the purchasing power of the public science libraries of universities and leading research centres. On the other hand, the digital revolution and the internet are bringing competition between printed and virtual media, while on-line access is radically changing the traditional management of scientific knowledge. Furthermore, for just under a decade now, very active groups of researchers have been campaigning not only for open access but also for free access. This combination of economic strangulation and digital revolution ultimately has implications for the public authorities and indeed for society as a whole. Because, is it not society that provides the ‘financial fuel’ necessary for science? And is it not therefore entitled to participate in the debate on this new world of access to knowledge?
Posted by
Peter Suber at 12/14/2005 11:32:00 AM.
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.
