Taylor & Francis Online :: Scientific Utopia: I. Opening Scientific Communication - Psychological Inquiry - Volume 23, Issue 3

Use the link to access the full text article from a special open access  issue of the journal Psychological Inquiry: An International Journal for the Advancement of Psychological Theory published by Taylor & Francis.  The abstract reads as follows: "Existing norms for scientific communication are rooted in anachronistic practices of bygone eras making them needlessly inefficient. We outline a path that moves away from the existing model of scientific communication to improve the efficiency in meeting the purpose of public science—knowledge accumulation. We call for six changes: (a) full embrace of digital communication; (b) open access to all published research; (c) disentangling publication from evaluation; (d) breaking the 'one article, one journal' model with a grading system for evaluation and diversified dissemination outlets; (e) publishing peer review; and (f) allowing open, continuous peer review. We address conceptual and practical barriers to change and provide examples showing how the suggested practices are being used already. The critical barriers to change are not technical or financial; they are social. Although scientists guard the status quo, they also have the power to change it."