Harvard Faculty Adopts Open-Access Requirement

Vooch writes "Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences adopted a policy this evening that requires faculty members to allow the university to make their scholarly articles available free online." I may not be smart enough to go to college, but at least I can pretend to have a Harvard eduction. I don't think that will be enough to get a gig as a Simpsons writer.

Eduction?

[timelorde]

... but at least I can pretend to have a Harvard eduction.

I was all set to make a snide comment about the esteemed Mr. Taco's spelling and/or typing abilities, perhaps combined with a Billy Gates Harvard dropout reference, but then I Googled "eduction":

Eduction [thefreedictionary.com]

*Sigh* I am NOT smarter than a fifth grader.

Re:Faculty members can publish in any journal that

[immcintosh]

You call it Harvard arrogance, I call it a noble effort. They have a strong hand, and I think they have every ethical right to attempt to enforce a more open atmosphere of knowledge in the face of academic journals which seem to be working contrary to that end.

Whether anything comes with it is another matter, but I'm glad they're trying.

Re:Faculty members can publish in any journal that

[DoofusOfDeath]

I think their theory is that journals that don't allow this will have to change their policy, as they wouldn't want to lose out on publishing articles from Harvard profs.

But wouldn't that just accelerate the demise of those journals, since then there would be little reason to subscribe? I know that lately I've been chaffing at the cost of IEEE and ACM journal subscriptions. The main reason I bother is to get access to the articles I need for my research.

This conversation reminds me of the dilemma faced by newspapers regarding putting their content online, and if so whether or not to require an online subscription. There's no good answer for the newspapers now that the web offers an arguably superior distribution method for the content.

Re:Faculty members can publish in any journal that

[Hatta]

The arrogance comes not from Harvard, but from the people who expect to make a living off of their reputation alone. The research is paid for by tax payer dollars. The reviewers work for free. They add literally no value besides their name. And in science what really matters is the quality of your research, not the name attached to it. It's a total racket, and everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves. I'll be glad to see them go the way of the buggy whip makers.