Taking open access to the next level, by giving control to researchers, instead of to academic publishers
Back in February 2022, Walled Culture wrote about diamond open access (OA), perhaps the “purest” form of open access publishing, since there are no charges for either the…
Here’s another important reason why academics should publish in open access titles: self interest
Open access has been discussed many times here on Walled Culture. There are several strands to its story. It’s about allowing the public to access research they have…
Mass resignation by top academics over “too greedy” publisher, as Council of the EU calls for open access
It’s no secret that academic publishers are making fabulous profits by exploiting the work provided free of charge by researchers and funded by taxpayers. This is still happening,…
What Professor Litman’s classic open access book “Digital Copyright” teaches us
The central theme of Walled Culture the blog and the book (free digital versions available for download) is how copyright is a bad fit for the digital world.…
Peer review has failed, and that’s great news – for diamond open access, science and society
Over on his Experimental History blog, which he describes as “cognitive sneezing and interior design for your head“, Adam Mastroianni has two great posts about peer review in…
Open access is taking over, but academic institutions are paying as much money as ever: what happened?
The good news is that open access publishing, which allows anyone to read academic papers without needing a subscription, is taking over. The bad news is that academic…
Interview | Jean-Sébastien Caux: Rethinking Academic Publishing, Open Access & SciPost
Jean-Sébastien Caux is Professor in theoretical condensed matter physics at the University of Amsterdam. A Canadian citizen, he obtained his PhD in Oxford, was postdoctoral Fellow in All…
Why moving to diamond open access will not only save money, but also help to protect privacy
Back in September last year, Walled Culture mentioned the consistently high profit margins of 30-40% enjoyed by the academic publisher Elsevier. That’s problematic because these profits flow from…
New research shows traditional open access has failed. Time to do something different
Last week, I wrote about diamond open access. I noted that one of the problems with the “mainstream” form of open access, also known as gold open access,…
Who knew? Diamond open access publishing is not rare at all, but actually very common
Back in December I was extolling the virtues of green open access, which involves academics self-archiving their work so that anyone can freely download it and read it.…
Why environmental non-governmental organizations – and everyone else – should go green (open access)
Open access (OA) – making academic research freely available to all – seems self-evidently a great idea. It’s good for the public, which gains access to work it…
Interview | Mirela Roncevic: Open Access, Open Science, Scholarly Monographs, E-Book Lending
Scholar, writer, editor, content developer, and publishing and library consultant, Mirela Roncevic talks about the long journey of open access and open science, how to pay for scholarly…
Famous writers sue OpenAI for alleged copyright infringement, missing the point again
Last week, a group of prominent writers sued OpenAI, in what is just the latest in a growing number of lawsuits claiming that AI systems are infringing on…
Google’s “Web Environment Integrity” is an attack on the open Internet and user freedom
Back in July, Walled Culture wrote about a terrible proposal from the French government to force browsers to incorporate a list of banned Web sites at the software…
How long before all browsers are required by law to prevent users from opening allegedly infringing sites?
Mozilla’s Open Policy & Advocacy blog has news about a worrying proposal from the French government: In a well-intentioned yet dangerous move to fight online fraud, France is…
Streaming services today sell musicians access to their own fans; SoundCloud shows a better way
Back in January, Walled Culture wrote about an interesting initiative by the German online audio distribution platform and music sharing service SoundCloud, with its Fan-Powered Royalties (FPR) approach.…