Open access and you

摘要

Anew freedom is brewing. It's not mentioned in the U.S. Bill of Rights or the UN Declaration of Human Rights, but it's increasingly recognized as vital— unrestricted access to scientific information on the Internet. Open access is a juggernaut that is permanently reshaping the landscape for scientific publishing, and it will change the way you publish and search for scientific information. The principle is simple. If the government pays for the research, then the public should have free and open access to the results. Libraries, researchers, and professional societies all share the goal of making high-quality scientific information as accessible as possible. To their credit, publishers provide an important service in receiving, reviewing, editing, indexing, formatting, posting, publishing, and archiving research articles. In addition, publishers add value to the final product by "credentialing" it—assuring readers that the material is high-quality and has passed peer review. These services cost money, which is paid by individual and library subscriptions and by advertisers and authors (through page and reprint charges). But how can publishers recover these costs when their content is freely available online? Is there a better system?