CapitolHillCoffeeHouse: "Open Access" or Covert Propaganda? by Alan Caruba - Oct 15, 06

"This innocent sounding bill [FRPAA] might better be called 'The Advancement of Junk Science Act of 2006.'

All the government-funded studies, whether having merit or redolent with hidden agendas, would be available to become a platform by which various social agendas would be advanced. 

Nothing truly impedes anyone from access to published research studies; it's available for those who want to read it.  'Open access', however, is an invitation for more clueless journalism and covert advocacy....

This bill literally forces publishers of medical, scientific and scholarly journals, which invest hundreds of millions of dollars each year in their publications, to give away their work. There is something inherently wrong in that.  The Open Access bill is, in this respect, an unconstitutional 'taking' of intellectual property by the federal government.

So, what starts out appearing to be a reasonable mandate based on federal funding turns out to be bad news for everyone; from those doing the research to those publishing the research. Ultimately the unskilled consumers of 'open access' could also be at risk inasmuch as they are unaware of whether the material they're reading has any real merit. 

Another way to further debase the process that supports questionable science is to create 'alternative journals.' It should come as little surprise that liberal financier George Soros, through his Open Society Institute, is a big fan of 'open access' and alternative journals...."