Moving On, Open Access and Science Communication Impact | Absolutely Maybe, Scientific American Blog Network

" ... First there was the decision to not submit any of my own articles to journals that weren’t full open access. Then came the decision not to peer review for closed access journals any more. Then the really hard step: not to participate as a co-author on any article going to a non-open access journal. Sounds like someone trying to wean themselves off an addiction, doesn’t it? It’s hard to resist, when there’s so much pressure associated with a particular type of prestige. The same kind of dynamic occurs with other science communication, too. It doesn’t serve science or science communication well, though. Still, it’s relatively easy to be an open access advocate, when you’re a senior scientist who long ago opted for the public science agency road. There was one last tie to that world, though, and it’s been increasingly uncomfortable: blogging for a part of the Nature Publishing Group. It’s been a privilege to be part of a magazine with such a long history – including in my own life. The issues I looked at as a pre-teen count as my first science-ish reading. But spending a few days recently watching early career researchers I admire greatly embark on academic careers with those same pledges made my rationalizations about where I blog start to sound very hollow to me. So I’m very glad to be moving on. I’m excited to say that I now come with 100% more commitment to PLOS! ..."