Open Access Biology
It looks like the Open Access movement is winning. Slowly but surely. —Finally!
A lot of (former) students will have shared the frustration of not finding an important article in the library. In my postgrad years, I have spent a sizeable chunk of my spare time running around the various libraries in London, trying to track down a list of elusive references often hidden in obscure specialist colleges or the dusty vaults of the Science Library, then secretively hidden in the West End and accessible only through an unmarked entrance and after a bag search—very James Bond.
The alternative was to order the paper through an inter-library loan which was fiendishly expensive and strictly rationed. Most turned out disappointing to boot: it is often not possible to judge the value of an article by its title and abstract—especially when hunting for specific techniques which are, infuriatingly, referenced instead of described. This is not insignificant; finding the right article at the right time can shave off months of effort which amounts to re-inventing the wheel in the lab. This may be a useful (if frustrating) learning experience for junior postgrads, but it can cost dearly in terms of money and results. In today’s world, when research has accelerated manyfold both in the discovery of new methods and the volume of data generated, access can make the difference between reputation and relegation of scientists, especially for those that do not have ready access or cash to pay for subscription journals and databases.
The NIH has long pushed for public access to its tax-funded research—although it requests, rather than requires that scientists deposit a copy of their published articles with the PubMedCentral online archive. It is now joined by the Wellcome Trust, a leading UK medical charity and itself not a novice when it comes to pressing for open access. If it wasn’t for this venerable institution’s considerable muscle, the human genome sequence would not be in the public domain today. In this article in PLoS Biology (itself one of a range of open access journals from the Public Liubrary of Science), the Trust’s senior advisor, Robert Terry, outlines the strategy for providing free access to all articles submitted by Trust funded researchers (and there are many of these, including (briefly) your’s truly). If this extends to their collaborations, a large chunk of biomedical science will have to be made accessible, albeit six months after publication (which is fair enough). And doubtlessly other public and charitable funding bodies will follow suit. There is therefore real hope that discoveries will be shared for all to see and learn from as we require (and please). And this in itself will be one of the most important contributions to Biology in recent times.
Although a tiny part of me misses the thrill of the hunt for that elusive reference…
And if you think this isn’t related to travel, here’s the link to a bookish interlude during my trip to Sri Lanka 😉
Tags: Neither here nor there, Tag Index
Denni