The Whitehouse Open Access Policy Props Up the Gatekeepers - Fancy Beans

"Months ago I signed one of those Whitehouse petitions. The petition asked the President to require that science articles that were paid for with government money be made freely available over the internet. In short, we paid for it and should be able to read it. Surprisingly, the administration actually responded! I even got an email. Huzzah for participatory democracy! But, sadly, the policy is not as good as I’d like. The policy only directs the larger federal funding agencies (more than $100 million budget) to create policies that would require free online access a full year after publication. Michael Eisen is one scientist who has made me feel like I know a bit more about the process of science than I ever learned in school. I recommend his response about the new policy. Admittedly he’s far to one side of this debate but he’s not happy about it and taking heat for complaining about it. But he’s right — the policy is disappointing. It continues to privilege gatekeepers in the process of spreading knowledge. I want the enterprise of science to be as effective as possible ..."