Open access in a time of illness | Martin Paul Eve | Professor of Literature, Technology and Publishing

"I noted, on Twitter, how pleased I was to discover that there was good information available online about my current condition. I want, here though, to offer a few words to the ridiculous arguments that are sometimes brought against open access. Namely, that there isn’t a public for this material because it is specialized in both its wording and its content. This is total nonsense and I really can’t stand it. First, know this: my institution, although prestigious and well-regarded in many ways, does not have a medical school. As a result, I do not, therefore, have access to all the papers that detail my condition. Second, make no mistake: I can read a scientific/medical paper and understand it. I have a Ph.D. in English literature, I have been teaching myself statistics, I’m an industry-certified computer programmer. To read an article in a remote field takes me much longer – and it varies from paper to paper – but I can understand what is being said even when I might not presume to be able to challenge material within.