On Thu, 7 Feb 2002, Chris Rusbridge wrote: > Stevan, remember the difference between parasites and epiphytes. Parasites > kill their hosts. That does not seem to be quite what you are saying.
Very astute point by Chris! Yes, epiphyte is the apter metaphor: Self-archiving will not kill its host but cure it from a maladaptive and unsustainable condition, an obsolete Gutenberg legacy. Self-archiving will not only provide immediate open access for all, but it will force refereed journal publishing to cut inessentials, downsize to the essentials, and recover its costs via the natural means for this special literature, namely, institutional peer-review costs paid per outgoing accepted (or submitted) paper, instead of access-blocking tolls paid per incoming journal. Stevan Harnad
