Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Open access publishing is the ethical choice

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

I will admit that I find it very difficult to take lessons in ethics from people who have published them behind paywalls or teach them behind tuition barriers at elite universities. At a certain point, such ethics become self-justifying, defending in one way or another the privilege of the wealthy and powerful. So I'm sympathetic with this article, and with statements like "the assumption that most people won't be interested in, or capable of, reading academic research is patronising." And like the author, I question the ethics of institutions that offer advancement to staff only if they publish in expensive academic journals. "Rather than focusing on career damage to those who can't publish with an Elsevier title, we should focus on the opportunity cost in hundreds of lost careers in academia."

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Apr 24, 2024 06:42 a.m.

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