Quote:
Originally Posted by johnt
Bob,
Diego24,
It may have made sense to charge for access in the days before word proccessors and the internet. In those days the publisher had work to do.
Now it can all be done online by the scientists themselves for free: from setting up an editorial board, to finding reviewers, to distributing.
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Maybe you are right. I know the following ... I did a PhD in control theory and I do know I had to write my papers myself, sent it to the journals and let them get reviewed. The reviewers are not paid. The journals contact researcher from who they know they are working on something similar and ask them to review the papers (so I also got asked several times to review papers ... for free). The scientist will receive feedback from these reviewers. The paper can be rejected, accepted or accepted with modifications. If the paper gets accepted, possible after the modifications, the university has to pay for the paper to get published.
This is what I know about the system. At first sight it seems indeed unfair. So I wonder why these journals are asking money for it. They ask money from the ones writing the papers, as well as from the ones reading the papers. But maybe there is a hidden reason for this ? If the reason is just make people rich, you have a point in making these papers available for free.
But still, being right is not enough. For example, in electrical engineering you have the IEEE community. This is a very big community with a huge amounts of journals. This community is very big and rich. I don't think they are gonna allow your wish to become reality. I feel like you are doing a Don Qijote here, fighting against windmills. But still props for you trying.
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnt
It seems to me to be unfair that a company supported by tax dollars should not act socially responsibly.
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I dont think in this case you are completely right. The company is also based on private money. The owners are taking risks with their money too. If the company fails, the owners have a big problem. Moreover, a company that doesn't create profits ? That simple doesn't work. For people to do something there needs to be some incentive.
Even if these companies don't give away their products for free, still they give something back to the people. They create jobs for the people. They do research that not only makes humanity take a step forward, but also gives other people ideas to start their own companies. And the best of all ... one day they will find a cure for the existing diseases and help us all; even though we might have to pay for that cure.
If I would be a president or whatever, I would invest in companies doing research because these are the ones boosting the economy of your country and creating well being for the people.