Re: No Free Lunches: We Should Resist the Push to Rush Research Online

From: Stevan Harnad <harnad_at_COGPRINTS.SOTON.AC.UK>
Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2001 23:30:17 +0100

The "No Free Lunch" essay by John Ewing in the Chronicle of Higher
Education http://chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i07/07b01401.htm
is unfortunately yet another instance of the conflation of the essentials
with the optional add-ons (frills).

Peer review is essential. Publishers' on-paper texts, PDF, indexing, reference
links etc. are frills. The only way to test the true market value of those
frills is to stop trying to hold the refereed full-text essentials
hostage to them by force-wrapping them together into one "product."

The issue is not high vs. low journal prices, not commercial vs. noncommercial
publishers. It is about freeing the essentials from the add-on frills.

See the thread:
Distinguishing the Essentials from the Optional Add-Ons
http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/1437.html

and also:

Harnad, S. (2001) Six Proposals for Freeing the Refereed Literature Ariadne 28 June 2001.
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue28/minotaur/#1
http://www.cogsci.s oton.ac.uk/~harnad/Tp/ariadne.htm


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Stevan Harnad harnad_at_cogsci.soton.ac.uk
Professor of Cognitive Science harnad_at_princeton.edu
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NOTE: A complete archive of the ongoing discussion of providing free
access to the refereed journal literature online is available at the
American Scientist September Forum (98 & 99 & 00 & 01):

    http://amsci-forum.amsci.org/archives/American-Scientist-Open-Access-Forum.html
                            or
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/index.html

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Received on Mon Oct 08 2001 - 23:43:02 BST

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