[GOAL] COVID-19 and access to knowledge

Jean-Claude Guédon jean.claude.guedon at umontreal.ca
Tue Mar 31 16:17:48 BST 2020


I also strongly agree with Peter. As for Éric Archambault, it is simply 
a pity to see greed trump principles.

One last note: OA will succeed, despite what Stevan says. Let us shape 
OA the right way, and certainly not in the way supported by Elsevier: in 
their view, OA is a "charitable" gesture that is applied only in extreme 
cases. The reality is that the Great Conversation of science constantly 
needs it.

The right way to go is OA free for authors and for readers, which means 
that it must be subsidized. But that is all right because scientific 
research is subsidized and scientific communication is an integral part 
of scientific research (and it costs only 1% of the rest of research).

Jean-Claude Guédon

Le 31/03/2020 à 08:28, Stevan Harnad a écrit :
> I agree with Peter.
>
> Eric has gone over to the devil.
>
> This is a shameful time for token measures.
>
> Covid-19 is a litmus test for disclosing who are going all out for the 
> public good and who are in it for themselves.
>
> OA used to be for the sake of scientific and scholarly research -- an 
> abstraction, and it did not succeed.
>
> Here it’s about survival.
>
> Stevan Harnad
> Editor,Animal Sentience 
> <https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fanimalstudiesrepository.org%2Fanimsent%2F&data=01%7C01%7C%7Cd547a0da71564c7fb48108d7d56f0886%7C4a5378f929f44d3ebe89669d03ada9d8%7C0&sdata=u4SeHgBD0Upyemmp4Nf0%2Be9a3nOcKNimsGZ3BY2YhGA%3D&reserved=0>
> Professor of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal 
> <https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcrcsc.uqam.ca%2F&data=01%7C01%7C%7Cd547a0da71564c7fb48108d7d56f0886%7C4a5378f929f44d3ebe89669d03ada9d8%7C0&sdata=cXNp0TpmsXPsLTCN5AYm8hfmpZmgij7X2Up3%2FNnGjvo%3D&reserved=0>
> Adjunct Professor of Cognitive Science, McGill University 
> <https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mcgill.ca%2Fpsychology%2Fabout%2Ffaculty-0%2Faffiliate-and-adjunct&data=01%7C01%7C%7Cd547a0da71564c7fb48108d7d56f0886%7C4a5378f929f44d3ebe89669d03ada9d8%7C0&sdata=FirEAYdQS9zIJvZwZOu3TyqInl7b71VCYxIDnoAQ6O4%3D&reserved=0>
> Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Science, University of Southampton 
> <http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/people/harnad>
>
>> On Mar 30, 2020, at 6:14 PM, Peter Murray-Rust <pm286 at cam.ac.uk 
>> <mailto:pm286 at cam.ac.uk>> wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 30, 2020 at 7:48 PM Éric Archambault 
>> <eric.archambault at science-metrix.com 
>> <mailto:eric.archambault at science-metrix.com>> wrote:
>>
>>>     Peter,
>>>
>>>     Two months ago, that is, on January 27, we started work at
>>>     Elsevier to make available as much as possible of the scholarly
>>>     literature on coronavirus research easily discoverable and
>>>     freely accessible.
>>>
>>>     At 1science, we created the Coronavirus Research Hub:
>>>
>> Why does Elsevier not simply open all its content and let the 
>> scientific , medical and citizen community decide what they want? 
>> Elsevier can't guess what we want.
>>
>> The Royal Society has done this. Elsevier can afford to do it.
>>>
>>>     If we can help further, please let us know, we have been on it
>>>     for two months and we continue to evaluate options to help the
>>>     research community.
>>>
>> My colleague, a software developer, working for free on openVirus 
>> software, is spending most of his time working making masks in 
>> Cambridge Makespace to ship to Addenbrooke's hospital. When he goes 
>> to the literature to find literature on masks, their efficacy and use 
>> and construction he finds paywall after paywall after paywall after 
>> paywall .... Some are 1-page notes behind a 36 USD Elsevier paywall.
>>
>> Do not tell us what we want. let us choose freely.
>>
>> Peter Murray-Rust
>>
>> Volunteer fighting for free scientific knowledge in a world crisis.
>>
>> -- 
>> "I always retain copyright in my papers, and nothing in any contract 
>> I sign with any publisher will override that fact. You should do the 
>> same".
>>
>> Peter Murray-Rust
>> Reader Emeritus in Molecular Informatics
>> Unilever Centre, Dept. Of Chemistry
>> University of Cambridge
>> CB2 1EW, UK
>> +44-1223-763069
>
>
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