Should Journals Publish Online For Free?
from the the-debate-rages-on- dept
For some time researchers have been debating the issue of putting peer-reviewed journal publications online for free. Those in favor of it say that this is needed to (1) give back the results of federally funded research to the public and (2) to stimulate additional research by making the information more widely available and easily accessible. Those against it take the entertainment industry angle, saying that it will kill the entire “industry” making it impossible for anyone to publish anything. ABCNews has a story looking at the debate. Also, looking (in much more detail) at this issue is a paper being published in (of all places) a free peer-reviewed online journal, FirstMonday. That paper tries to put the whole debate in perspective.
Comments on “Should Journals Publish Online For Free?”
online journals in my field
In my field (machine learning), the entire scientific/editorial board of the most prestigious machine learning journal resigned. They did this because the journal’s publishers refused to publish the journal online for free. Instead, the scientists all switched to a new, self-published, internet-only, free journal. And this new internet-based journal now has much more prestige than the old, printed one.