2013 Exchange | Science & Policy Exchange

Use the link to access more information about the upcoming event.  "Scientific journals are an intrinsic player in the discovery process. These establishments organize the peer reviewing process by which quality standards of the discipline are maintained. They prevent the dissemination of irrelevant findings, unfounded claims, unacceptable interpretations or personal views from being published in scientific papers. Thus such review process increases the probability that weaknesses in the papers’ findings are identified, ultimately improving and accelerating the dissemination of accurate knowledge that other researchers can confirm and build upon. Before the internet, publishing companies were the be all and end all of knowledge dissemination. They developed logistical methods which accelerated the process and ensured access to these valuable discoveries. Nevertheless this traditional model has been recently accused of limiting developing countries and their academic institutions from contributing to world class research. As a result, an alternative open access model has been developed. However there is growing discontent surrounding the opposition of traditional publishers and governments to this parallel system. This year over 11,000 researchers worldwide spoke out against proposed US legislation which would block federal funding bodies from mandating that publicly-funded research be made freely available to the public in repositories such as PubMed Central. Some observers are referring to this movement as the 'Academic Spring'. There seems to be fundamental paradox at the heart of science publishing. Public funds finance the projects, the institutions where the research is done and their subscriptions to the journals. However these same academic institutions have limited access to their own final product, the knowledge published in academic journals. This begs the question, is there a better model that would not restrict knowledge yet would permit the publishers to have a sustainable economic model? An open access model promises a better leverage of investment in research, stimulating discovery, and innovation. In addition, the open transfer of knowledge within the scientific community is thought to accelerate the pace of research and improve the accountability of researchers by increasing transparency of their funding management. How much of this is true? How can all of this be achieved in a scientific culture that rewards high impact journal publications? And ultimately, how can public policy be adapted to encourage a more socially-profitable scientific publishing model?"