On Fri, 31 Aug 2001, Stevan Harnad wrote:
>On Fri, 31 Aug 2001, Peter Suber wrote:
>
> > The number of PLoS-compliant journals is about six. The exact number
> > depends on how strictly one interprets compliance, but no matter how
> > one interprets it, the number is small. Hence it appears that one PLoS
> > strategy for moving forward will be to encourage the development of new
> > (free online) journals.
> >
> > This will be the real breakthrough. We never had to wait for the existing
> > journals to see the light, consent to FOS, or change their policies. We
> > always had the option to create new journals... I wonder how long
> > it will take for the number of PLoS compliant journals to rise from six
> > to six hundred.
>
>I wonder too. But could I make a suggestion? It is not only true that
>we need not sit and wait, wondering, for existing journals to "see the
>light" (i.e., decide, of their own accord, to give away their papers
>online for free); we also need not sit and wait for new journals to be
>created, or adopted by authors in preference to their existing
>established journals.
>
>Let all those things happen, by all means! But let us not sit and wait
>meanwhile!
>
>As researchers, we cannot change existing journal policies (we can only
>sign petitions); nor can we create alternative journals for each of our
>own articles: We must sit and wait for others do it for us.
>
>But meanwhile, as we sit and wait, there IS something each of us
>individual researchers can do, right now. And if we do it, there will
>be nothing left to wait for, as we will ourselves have set the refereed
>literature free.
>
>So, while we wait, wondering, may I suggest that we use the time to
>self-archive our research?
>
> Harnad, S. (2001) For Whom the Gate Tolls? How and Why to Free the
> Refereed Research Literature Online Through Author/Institution
> Self-Archiving, Now.
> http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Tp/resolution.htm
Stevan is right that we needn't wait for self-archiving, which is one
of its most conspicuous advantages. Launching new (free, online) journals
will definitely help the cause, but it will take time and self-archiving is
available immediately. I didn't mean to suggest that we should launch new
journals to the exclusion of self-archiving; both are desirable, and as
strategies they complement one another.
Peter
----------
Peter Suber, Professor of Philosophy
Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, 47374
Email peters_at_earlham.edu
Web
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters
Editor, The Free Online Scholarship Newsletter
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/
Received on Wed Jan 03 2001 - 19:17:43 GMT