Let's shine a light on paywalls that deny open access to scientific research | Tania Browne | Science | theguardian.com

"Reviewing scientific literature can be a bit like trying to negotiate a maze with the lights turned off. For years I was fumbling around in the dark, but didn't realise I was missing out. Now the Open Access Button campaign wants us all to hit the switch and turn on the lights ... Then a sudden illness made me more interested in population health. I started reading with a sense of purpose. On Twitter I followed the discussions among scientists working at institutions around the world. They often shared links to scientific papers with each other, stuff that sounded really interesting and that I wanted to read. But I couldn't. If I followed such a link, I'd find that I needed to pay £25 or more to download a single pdf file. How the heck were these science types able to keep up with developments in their field? Were they all secret millionaires? I clearly couldn't keep up when, living on the minimum wage, it would take me half a day's work to earn the right to read a single paper. I realised I was being prevented from learning more, from examining the details and seeing the evidence for myself. I was shut out of knowledge ... I didn't realise how much I was missing until I went back to full-time education a year ago. Suddenly, through my university portal, I had access to subscription journals and my world opened up. It was like being able to see after a cataract operation, or being able to hear after getting a cochlear implant.  But it also made me angry. It made me realise how little scientific information the average person sees – even though, through the funding system for research, it's often our taxes and charity donations that pay for it ... One of the most innovative ideas has been to give people a 'button' they can press each time they hit a paywall that blocks their access to research findings. After a successful beta launch by creators Joseph McArthur and David Carroll last year, the Open Access Button projecthas tracked more than 6,500 paywalls. But they know they are only scratching the surface. The project is now seeking crowdfunding for a second phase, and to ensure a fully tested version can be launched in time for Open Access Week in October ..."