Tag Archives: open access

Academic freedom and responsibility: why Plan S is not unethical

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Stephen

Since its announcement on 4th September the European Commission’s plan to make a radical shift towards open access (OA) has caused quite a stir. Backed by eleven* national funding agencies, the plan aims to make the research that they support free … Continue reading →

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Why I don’t share Elsevier’s vision of the transition to open access

Posted on October 3, 2017 by Stephen

Last week Elsevier’s VP for Policy and Communications, Gemma Hersh, published a think-piece on the company’s vision of the transition to open access (OA). She makes some valid points but glosses over others that I would like to pick up on. Some of … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access | Tagged | 6 Comments

Pride and Prejudice and journal citation distributions

Posted on July 6, 2016 by Stephen

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a researcher in possession of interesting experimental results, must be in want of a journal with a high impact factor. It is also true – and widely understood – that journal impact factors … Continue reading →

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ICYMI No.1: Preprints for biologists

Posted on December 18, 2015 by Stephen

Since I have developed a habit of writing elsewhere, which necessarily takes time and words away from the blog here at Reciprocal Space, I thought I would try to make amends by developing the habit of linking to the pieces … Continue reading →

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Open access: a national licence is not the answer

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Stephen

“Open Access: Is a national licence the answer?” is a proposal by David Price and Sarah Chaytor of University College London for a mechanism to provide full access to everyone within the UK to all published research. It was published on 31 … Continue reading →

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Open letter to the Publishers Association: please amend your open access decision tree

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Stephen

Dear Publishers Association I ask that you amend the open access decision tree you created for incorporation into the guidance notes accompanying the Open Access (OA) policy announced by Research Councils UK (RCUK) in 2013. It may seem odd to … Continue reading →

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Open access and the humanities

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Stephen

At the end of 2013 and 2014 I wrote blog posts on Occam’s Corner (over at the Guardian) to list and briefly review the books I read in each of those years. I want to develop this practice into a good habit … Continue reading →

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Open Access — yes you can

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Stephen

For researchers who have never dipped a toe into the debates on open access that surge across the blogosphere it is all too easy to imagine that they need not get involved. For sure, people are increasingly aware that a decision … Continue reading →

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Open Access – reasons to be cheerful: a reply to Agrawal

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Stephen

A opinion piece by Anurag Agrawal that was rather skeptical about some aspects of moves toward open access was published in the March issue of Trends in Plant Sciences. I felt several of the arguments advanced by Agrawal were rather … Continue reading →

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Why Elsevier is completely in the right… and totally wrong

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Stephen

The internet was all aflutter last week because Elsevier has sent thousands of take-down notices to Academia.edu, a social networking site where many researchers post and share their published papers. This marks a significant change of tack for Elsevier. Previously … Continue reading →

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Open Access Headaches

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Stephen

Tense, nervous headache? Feelings of confusion? Mood swings from warm optimism to a gnawing sense of futility? You’ve been reading about open access again, haven’t you? I know because I have and I recognise the symptoms.  Open access week came … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments