[Watch this video] Open access explained

[unjapanologist]

Here's a lovely video about why open access for academic articles is so important. It touches upon many key problems with academic publishing, and it's animated by the guy who makes the awesome PhD Comics.

Open access explained! (8min)

As the video explains, academic publishing without open access is an extremely inefficient way of distributing knowledge, and it excludes anyone who doesn't have piles of money or happens to be attached to an institution that has piles of money. This system perverts the whole purpose of science. "It doesn't make sense in terms of what science is supposed to be about. Science is about discovering new things and spreading that knowledge around! It's so irrational to think that scientists are paid by taxpayers to do research and distribute it (...) and then (that work) is not going to be made available to people." 

In a fannish context, this is why it's important to have an open access journal like Transformative Works and Cultures where academics who do fan studies research can publish. Without such outlets, all academic research on fans would just end up locked up behind paywalls and far out of reach of the people for whom it's the most relevant (instead of just most academic research on fans).

The fact that academics who do research on fans still need to publish in an officially accredited journal to get their work acknowledged by their institutions is a whole other, gigantic problem. Maybe we wouldn't have to angst about the need for an open access fan studies journal if researchers had more ways of getting recognition from their employers for putting stuff online. Massive advances in learning and knowledge happen entirely outside of traditional academic publishing channels, but far too few institutions reward researchers for devoting time and effort to things that don't result in papers in journals.

Comments

[abrae]

Thanks for this - it's terrific.

[unjapanologist]

IKR? I love it.

[ljwrites]

I'm ashamed to say I never gave this issue much thought because I've been affiliated with some university or other for all my adult life and had online access to most journals through my school. I never realized they were so expensive! I think it's particularly unfair to individuals and to schools in developing countries.

Some alternate models I can think of are ad revenue, donations, or just even a vaguely reasonable price. Maybe the same institutions that fund research (government, universities etc.) can start offering journals at cost to exert market pressure on commercial publishers, though there is that issue of prestige which I'm guessing is the reason why journals are expensive despite their proliferation.

[unjapanologist]

Academia can't shake off this antiquated way of evaluating what researchers do, so the publishers of "traditionally" prestigious journals have been given a ludicrous monopoly. They can (and basically do) rack up the prices as much as they please.

Many universities are now putting more and more support behind open access publishing, which makes research free for readers. That seems much healthier than making new journals for a lower price - research shouldn't cost anybody anything to access, I think, especially research that was funded by taxpayer money.