Vetting Reliable Research The John Oliver Way
HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver had a wonderful segment about the skewing of scientific research and how information is ultimately shared.
The Dark Side of Open Access Publishing
Normally, I am a staunch advocate for open-access (OA) publishing. See previous blog posts on OA here, here, here, here, and here. But with a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education (sub. req'd.), it became clear that advocating for OA publishing without mentioning the possible pitfalls is irresponsible.
The CHE article follows the recent demise of Beall's List -- the list created by a librarian to warn researchers about predatory publishers. CHE provides the following possible causes for the demise:
[Beall's] fellow university librarians, whom Mr. Beall faults for overpromoting open-access publishing models.A well-financed Swiss publisher, angry that Mr. Beall had had the temerity to put its journals on his list.His own university, perhaps fatigued by complaints from the publisher, the librarians, or others.The broader academic community — universities, funders of research, publishers, and fellow researchers, many of whom long understood the value of Mr. Beall…
The CHE article follows the recent demise of Beall's List -- the list created by a librarian to warn researchers about predatory publishers. CHE provides the following possible causes for the demise:
[Beall's] fellow university librarians, whom Mr. Beall faults for overpromoting open-access publishing models.A well-financed Swiss publisher, angry that Mr. Beall had had the temerity to put its journals on his list.His own university, perhaps fatigued by complaints from the publisher, the librarians, or others.The broader academic community — universities, funders of research, publishers, and fellow researchers, many of whom long understood the value of Mr. Beall…
John Oliver rocks :)
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