Re: Open access to research worth �1.5bn a year

["Peter Banks" <pbanks@diabetes.org>]

No, you are not missing something, Sally. The reporter who covered this so
uncritically and without analysis was the one missing something.

I am not trained as an economist, but Professor Harnad's analysis seems
based on so many untested assumptions and leaps of logic that I am not
sure what we can draw from it.

In particular, the work of Diamond which Harnad uses to set the value of a
citation was meant to quantify the value of a citation to the earnings of
a professor, not the value to society. I am not sure how Harnad makes the
jump from individual to collective benefit.

Moreover, Harnad seems to make the assumption that the 85% of research
that is not self-archived is unavailable for citation. In the field of
diabetes, this is clearly not the case. Of the most cited journals in
diabetes (Diabetes, Diabetes Care, J Clin Endo Metab, and Diabetologia),
the first three make virtually all accepted papers quickly available. ADA
enables any author to post accepted manuscripts in institutional archives
immediately on acceptance and makes full text available after three
months. It is unlikely that self-archiving would have much of an impact on
citation rate.

The most worrisome aspect of Harnad's analysis is that it may allow
legislators to dodge the real problem behind lack of scientific
progress--the underfunding of research--and instead pin their hopes on the
magic bullet of self-archiving.

Peter Banks
Acting Vice President for Publications/Publisher
American Diabetes Association
1701 North Beauregard Street
Alexandria, VA 22311
703/299-2033
FAX 703/683-2890
Email: pbanks@diabetes.org

>>> sally.morris@alpsp.org 09/21/05 7:37 PM >>>

Am I alone in failing completely to understand the basis for Stevan's
calculation of the 1.5 bn?  It seems to be (hypothetical (and as far as I
can follow, unexplained) figure) x (hypothetical figure) x (hypothetical
figure).  Am I missing something?

Perhaps someone could explain it to me nice and slow...

Sally Morris, Chief Executive
Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers
Email:  sally.morris@alpsp.org 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Hamaker, Chuck" <cahamake@email.uncc.edu>
To: <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Sunday, September 18, 2005 5:30 PM
Subject: Open access to research worth �1.5bn a year

> Subject: Open access to research worth �1.5bn a year
>
> Open access to research worth �1.5bn a year
> Published Friday 16th September 2005 10:39 GMT
> The Register
>
> Academic cries freedom
> By Lucy Sherriff
> Published Friday 16th September 2005 10:39 GMT
>
> The UK is losing out on its investment in scientific research to the tune
> of �1.5bn every year, according to advocates of open access publishing.
>
> Professor Stevan Harnad from the University of Southampton argues that
> because of the tradition of locking the results of publicly funded
> research away in research journals the scientific community is not as free
> to build on and develop ideas as it should be.
>
> He calculates that if all published work was self-archived (i.e. made
> available online, after publication in a journal), the research impact
> would be the equivalent of a further �1.5bn investment in UK science,
> every year.
>
> He argues that only researchers working at institutions that can afford
> journal subscription fees have access to published research, and offers
> his backing to the Research Councils UK (RCUK) proposal that all publicly
> funded research should be made available on the research institution's
> website.
>
> SEE this URL for rest of article and a link to Dr. Harnad's research on 
> this:
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/16/free_access_research/ 
>
> ####