Why Sci-Hub is the true solution for Open Access: reply to criticism | engineuring

abernard102@gmail.com 2016-02-25

Summary:

"This article is to reply to some points made by publishers as well as some librarians who don’t like what Sci-Hub is doing to their job now. I will start with an article published last wekk by Ernesto Priego Signal, Not Solution: Notes on Why Sci-Hub Is Not Opening Access The title is misleading by itself, if not funny. Sci-Hub is not a signal: for many researchers out there in the world, Sci-Hub is the only solution available to access articles. I can support my words by providing letters I received as well as some statistics, but I will do this in future posts. The problem are paywalls, and Sci-Hub is a tool that solves this problem. A signal is when someone talks about the problem of paywalls, like many OA advocates do. What differentiates Sci-Hub from this talk, is that Sci-Hub not talking, but actually solving this problem, providing access to those researchers who need it, including myself. Sci-Hub is not a signal nor a symptom — it a tool that is actually and actively used by many students and researchers accross the world. Why don’t you say then Google is a symptom of a problem that we cannot easily lookup information on the Web, and hence Google was developed to signal us about this problem! Just funny. About the second part of the title: if Sci-Hub is not Opening Access, then author has to open sci-hub.io website and check himself: just input URL of any paywalled article into the box, and you get the access! If that is not opening access, then what else it is? The title looks as a good attempt to disregard what Sci-Hub is actually doing. The real problem is that such kind of rhetoric can be used by publishers and autorities as an argument to shut down Sci-Hub. Because if that is not the solution, but mere a signal, hence what’s the problem shutting it down? Instead of suporting Sci-Hub in the fight against publishing system, the author helps publishers fighting Sci-Hub! ..."

Link:

https://engineuring.wordpress.com/2016/02/24/why-sci-hub-is-the-true-solution-for-open-access-reply-to-criticism/

From feeds:

Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) » abernard102@gmail.com

Tags:

oa.new oa.comment oa.sci-hub oa.piracy oa.economics_of oa.guerrilla

Date tagged:

02/25/2016, 09:13

Date published:

02/25/2016, 04:13