Re: Open Access Advantage (or Not!)

["adam hodgkin" <adam.hodgkin@gmail.com>]

There is another issue here. The literary act of 'citation' is 
not a simple matter. A citation may be offered for very many 
distinct reasons. Not all of them are reducible to the matter of 
'authorial indebtedness' or even to 'correcting previous work in 
the area'; since citations are often produced to help the reader 
by pointing to background information or a simple explanation of 
a related issue..

There may well be an 'open access advantage' for citations which 
are open and publicly accessible through the web when a citation 
is being offered primarily to assist the reader with the 
provision of background information etc.Especially when that 
reader is likely to be using the web. I dare say we have all 
noticed the increasing tendency for wikipedia to be cited in 
web-based writing. There is a clear 'open access' advantage for 
citations to open access sources which need to be available to 
the reader-in-general. Affordability is pretty much irrelevant -- 
obstacles to access are relevant. Ease of access for the author 
may not be as important as ease of access for the reader.

BTW -- am I alone in finding *excessive* citation of wikipedia a 
rather trying development?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illocutionary_act


Adam

On 3/28/06, Stevan Harnad <harnad@ecs.soton.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> You seem to forget the most important factor, which is that
> researchers cannot use and cite content they cannot afford to access
> and read. -- SH