RE: Fwd: US University OA Resolutions Omit MostImportantComponent

["Lisa Dittrich" <lrdittrich@aamc.org>]

That's fine.  We could (1) kill the publishing industry entirely and do
what the Dutch have done (obviously not something I want or even something
I think is good or in the public interest necessarily, but it's a real
option) and just make big repositories of content or (2) create, as some
have clearly suggested but which I believe are unrealistic, alternative
sources of funding publication through author/institution/funder pays
models.

I honestly do not see any other middle ground.  And there is a difference
between forcing an author who has been given grant money to report back to
an agency on what he/she has done (admittedly reasonable) and asking a
publisher who has invested money to seek no return on that investment.

Lisa Dittrich
Managing Editor
Academic Medicine
2450 N Street NW
Washington,D.C. 20037
lrdittrich@aamc.org (e-mail)
202-828-0590 (phone)
202-828-4798 (fax)
Academic Medicine's Web site: www.academicmedicine.org

>>> david.prosser@bodley.ox.ac.uk 05/13/05 12:56 AM >>>

In these discussions about authors doing, or being forced to do, what is
'good for them' we appear to forget that we already force authors to do
'what is good for them'.  For example:

In return for providing research grants we force researchers to deposit
gene sequences, protein sequences, etc.  It is not to the benefit of the
individual researcher to deposit, they don't volunteer, but we recognise
the value of it being done and so insist on it. In doing so we create
databases that are of benefit to all researchers.

In return for providing research grants we force researchers to write and
file end-of-project reports.  Again, researchers don't volunteer to write
these reports, but we recognise the value of having a reporting step and
insist on it.

In return for providing (significant) research grants the NIH is now
insisting on strategies to make data available.  The researchers are not
queuing-up to volunteer, but NIH sees it as important and so forces
researchers to 'do the right thing'.

...

David C Prosser PhD
SPARC Europe
E-mail:  david.prosser@bodley.ox.ac.uk