Wider open spaces | General | Times Higher Education

I should make it clear that I am all for open access, but I also worry that it is a distraction from the larger challenge of developing meaningful public engagement with research.

Yes, we can make science free at the point of access - and I really want us to - but that’s only a small part of a much more complex picture.

Being able to download a paper is one thing. Understanding it is another, as is having the time to read it. Having the kind of cultural relationship with scientists that means they are the people you look to and trust for information is yet another.

Sharing specialist scholarship is hard work at the best of times, and sharing it with a broad audience is harder still.

If we are going to have meaningful open access, then, for a start, we are going to need to write more clearly. Maybe open access will be a step towards this. I suspect researchers’ writing will improve if they know that a more diverse and larger group of people might read their work...."