For those of you following the progress of the "Open Access" movement in
scholarly publication, the article ought to be of great interest. Although I myself think that "open access" is long overdue, it will be interesting to watch a Republican Congress struggle with the dilemma of effectively stripping private companies of copyright protection to their "product." For those of you interesed in the topic, you can find some of my own writing on it at the following URLs: Green, C. D. (2002, November). Stalking the wild e-print: A scout's impressions of Publicatia Incognita. In W. W. Balthrop (Chair), Free the Bound Periodicals! Electronic Options for NCA. NCA President's Panel conducted at the annual convention of the National Communications Association. New Orleans. http://www.yorku.ca/christo/papers/stalking.htm Green, C. D. (2002, May). The internet and scholarly publishing. Presented to Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Research In Progress Seminar 2002: The Internet and the History of Mental Health and Addiction, Toronto. http://www.yorku.ca/christo/papers/internet-CAMH.htm Green, C. D. (2000, August). Electronic media and the future of the history of psychology. Presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C. http://www.yorku.ca/christo/papers/e-histpsych.htm The guru of the Open Access movement in psychology is, of course, Stevan Harnad (former editor of _Behavior and Brain Sciences_ and current editor of the e-journal _Psycoloquy_ and the Eprint Archive _CogPrints_. You can find his writings on the topic at: http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/intpub.html Regards, -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] phone: 416-736-5115 ext. 66164 fax: 416-736-5814 http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ ========================= Scientists Challenge For-Profit Journals Mon Jul 7,11:18 AM ET By PAUL ELIAS, AP Biotechnology Writer A number of prominent scientists got some support from a congressman in challenging the way their publicly funded research papers are handled by for-profit journals. U.S. Rep. Martin Sabo, a Minnesota Democrat, has introduced legislation that would give immediate public access to all research papers created mostly with federal money, regardless of which journal publishes them. The federal government doles out more than $50 billion in research funds a year. Many scientific journals, such as Science and Nature, own the copyrights to the research papers reprinted in their publications and charge for access to them. Scientists such as Nobel laureate Harold Varmus have railed against that system for years, arguing the public and scientists operating on a shoe string are excluded from access because of the high costs of subscribing to the journals. They also say it inhibits scientific collaboration. "Unlimited access to scientific research will speed discoveries and medical advances," said Varmus, president of Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Varmus co-founded a San Francisco-based online journal called the Public Library of Science, or PLoS, with that aim in mind. It is set to launch in October. PLoS has a tough battle ahead. Though many scientists privately grumble about the pay-for-access system, publishing in such journals help in career advancement and many researchers are reluctant to buck the system. "It's absolutely true that there is anxiety and concern," said Dr. Pat Brown, a Stanford University researcher who has published numerous papers. "We're looking for those who have the guts to stand up for this." One of those is Manuel Llinas, a postdoctoral malaria researcher at the University of California, San Francisco. "I was concerned," Llinas said. "But I believe in access to the work." PLoS will be available for free online, which raises the question of how it will survive financially. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation jump-started the journal with a $9 million grant and PLoS intends to charge researchers $1,500 each to publish. Once the journal gains traction, the founders expect to be self sufficient. "I'm delighted that they're doing this experiment and we'll be watching it closely," said Dr. Alan Leshner, chief executive of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (news - web sites), which publishes the journal Science. "But it has yet to be seen whether it will work." Leshner said charging subscriptions is the only way the nonprofit association can afford to keep publishing Science, which along with Nature, is one of the most prestigious journals where scientists can publish research. Nature is owned by the Anglo-Dutch publishing giant Reed Elsevier. Leshner also said Science publishes news, commentary and other features that are costly and supported by the publication's subscriptions and advertisers. He added that Science gives free online access to institutions in 67 developing nations and allows 1,000 universities to each buy a single access license for the entire campus. Further, Leshner said that many researcher papers have multiple authors and many researcher projects are funded by multiple public and private sources, which complicated deciding which papers should be made available at no cost. ___ On the Net: PloS: http://www.publiclibraryofscience.org/ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
