Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Hiding your research behind a paywall is immoral

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

As the title suggests, Mike Taylor argues in the Guardian that publishing scientific papers in subscription-based journals is immoral. "Dammit, we're scientists. Our job is to make knowledge. If we make it, then brick it up behind a wall, we're wasting our time and our funders' money – which ultimately means we're squandering the world's wealth. Publishing behind paywalls is immoral. More than that, it's oxymoronic: if it's behind a paywall, it hasn't been published. We have to stop doing it, now and for always." Needless to say, I agree. I especially appreciate the remarks about journal "impact factors", which are mistakenly taken to represent the importance of published scientific works.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Nov 04, 2024 3:02 p.m.

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