I wish I could go over all of the points and statistics cited in this presentation on open access science (video link to Vimeo). The problem is that I would basically have to transcribe it from wire to wire to capture what I think is important. Here are some of the highlights, though:
- The financial cost of commercial journals is staggering, and even the most well-endowed universities do not have access to everything they would like.
- Researchers and educators are limited to what is provided by their university as a direct result of the barrier to entry imposed by this cost. This means that they may not always have the best, most up to date information.
- Not having access to what they need means that researchers ability to produce good science may be hamstrung.
- Students might not be educated with respect to the latest and greatest.
I’ve talked at various times in the past about issues with commercial publishing. I won’t bother to re-hash those here. Please watch the video and spread the word about the importance of open-access science!!!!
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