Internet Evolution - George Taylor - The Web Could Transform Science (If Allowed to Do So)

... “The Web offers the possibility of great leaps in scientific progress through collaboration and open access. But... the business of accumulating, verifying, and publishing the fruits of research -- remains firmly in the steam age... But under the banner of open access to scientific knowledge, a new mode of collaborative scientific enterprise based on Internet connectivity and availability is challenging the traditional model... In publishing, for instance, the Public Library of Science (PLoS) posts peer-reviewed papers online, with free access to all. Similarly, arXiv.org is an online, open access archive of nearly three-quarters of a million articles on physics, mathematics, biology, computer science, and other disciplines... Online science itself departs from traditional models... On sites such as MathOverflow or Galaxy Zoo, individual contributors work together on projects and problem solving in mathematics and astronomy. Social networking also meets science at ResearchGate, a networking site exclusively set up for scientists to exchange information and ideas. The site now boasts 1.3 million members. ScienceOnline 2012, the sixth annual conference (or "unconference") dedicated to open access for scientists, students, and a range of other collaborators, was held in North Carolina last month... The obstacles to scientific open access are not trivial. Peer-reviewed publication is typically required for grant awards and as part of scientists’ tenure requirements, and there is no alternative yet visible. The publishing companies, such as Elsevier, make big profits, which they are in no hurry to give up. Since 2006, a proposed Federal Research Public Access Act, which would legally enshrine the principle of open access to publicly funded research, has been struggling through the legislative process and is tied up in committee. It is now threatened by the Research Works Act, which is brutal in its determination to place access to publicly funded research firmly in the hands of the publishers ...”