For people in the third world, there is a strong tendency to favor open
access. Why? Because it is economically viable. The cost of
purchasing articles is prohibitive for many researchers and so they
would prefer to be able to publish AND read open access articles. And,
of course, there are now many, and the number is growing, very good
scientists in tropical countries, and since their research is tropical
for the most part, I think we will see a gradual trend in these
researchers to publish in open access journals, which will little by
little increase the quality of those journals. As they become better,
they will get more submittals and the cycle will go on.
If first world journals actually recognized the economics for Third
World researchers, and did some conversion that made them as easy to
purchase for a third world scientist as for a first world scientist, it
would make a big difference. But, just go online and try to buy an
article - they make no distinction for currency. So, a $25 article for
you, is also that for me, only $25 for me is the equivalent of $40 or
so. Imagine subscribing to Science or any other high end journal - also
prohibitively expensive for most. Even universities down here often do
not have the money for an institutional subscription.
Thus, Third World research might just go the way of open access, while
first world stays in typical journals, causing another First World -
Third World separation.
Cheers,
Jim
On 27/Mar/08 16:42, Andrew Rypel wrote:
Dear Ecologers,
I'd like to probe the forum on people's opinion of the publication models
available to scientists today. I (and probably most of us) have seen a
massive rise in the number of open access publications over just the last
2-3 years. And yet this seems to be happening alongside an explosion in the
number of traditional-style publications as well. What does this all mean
for us ecologists trying to get our studies read by as many people as
possible and by those that can take your information and make a difference
with it – either through further research or policy?
I'll be honest that I'm leery of many of the new open access journals. I do
see value in them, especially for those who are at underfunded research
centers that don't have access to many of the mainstream publications. On
the other hand, what are they? Do they ultimately reach as many people? And
do they reach the "right" people – the ones that control aspects of policy
or have top-tier research programs. Are these new journals to be indexed in
Web of Science or the other academic search engines? So many questions
surround this new format and I just wonder what the rest of the community
thinks.
Andrew
--
James J. Roper, Ph.D.
James J. Roper
Ecologia, Evolução e Dinâmicas Populacionais
de Vertebrados Terrestres
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