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Asking for what we ALL ACTUALLY WANT

Just a quick post to congratulate the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for their fabulous new research policy covering both open access & open data.

One of the key things they’ve implemented for 2017 is ZERO TOLERANCE for post-publication embargoes of research. Work MUST be made openly available IMMEDIATELY upon publication to be compliant. No ifs, no buts.

Let’s just remind ourselves why other major research funders like RCUK & Wellcome Trust allow publishers to impose an embargo on academic work before it can be made public:

 

 

Do any academics want a post-publication embargo on their work, that stops it being shared, read & re-used by the widest readership possible?

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Does it benefit readers, patients, policy-makers or practitioners to have a post-publication embargo delaying their access to the very latest research?

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Does it benefit research funders themselves to have a post-publication embargo on work they fund?

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The only stakeholder that benefits from research funder policies that allow post-publication embargoes preventing free access to research are the legacy publishers. The fact that RCUK, Wellcome Trust and many others pander to these parasitic publishers and their laughably unfit-for-purpose business model is just WRONG and it makes me angry. JUST SAY “NO” TO POST-PUBLICATION EMBARGOES!

 

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It’s high-time that major research funders wrote policies that ask for what WE ALL ACTUALLY WANT, instead of a bullshit compromise that minimises fiscal harm to the multi-billion dollar legacy publishers.

 

I admire the Gates Foundation. They understand what we all need and they’ve implemented that in a clear and appropriate policy; optimal for readers, researchers, patients, practitioners and policy-makers. We want immediate open access, and we want it NOW! The ball is now in your court Wellcome Trust, make your move!

Just-Do-It-Now


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2 responses to “Asking for what we ALL ACTUALLY WANT”

  1. Mike Taylor Avatar
    Mike Taylor

    *clap clap clap*

    This. Absolutely this.

  2. Vladyslav Dombrovskyi Avatar

    Great news! Thanks for sharing.