RE: Open Choice is a Trojan Horse for Open Access Mandates

From: Stevan Harnad <harnad_at_ecs.soton.ac.uk>
Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2007 15:29:12 +0000 (GMT)

On Sat, 10 Mar 2007, Waaijers, Leo wrote:

> I do not understand the opposition against this newest move of Elsevier.
> They, Elsevier, organise the review process and then want to be
> compensated before the author version of the reviewed article may be
> posted in the IR and circulated freely. But this circulated version will
> have an authorized quality stamp, I guess. Isn't that exactly what we
> want: the publisher limits itself to the organisation of the review
> process?
>
> They embrace the Trojan horse. Isn't that what Trojan horses are meant
> for?

Leo,

I am afraid I am in very profound disagreement with you on this. Trojan
Horses are not to be embraced but to be exposed and resisted.

Elsevier (and the rest of the pit-bull lobby) would like to prevent OA
self-archiving from being mandated, and they would like to ensure that
if authors make their articles OA, they pay Elsevier extra money to
do so.

If you think this is an outcome we should embrace rather than resist,
then I don't think we have the same goal. My goal is OA, 100% OA, as
soon as possible. Funder and University ID/OA mandates will get as
to that goal almost overnight. The publishing lobby knows that too,
and is trying hard to prevent it.

I cannot understand why you would want to embrace that attempt. If it is
because you think paying publishers for OA directly will bring us to 100%
OA faster, or with greater probability, I am afraid I completely disagree
with you, and the evidence all does too.

I was hoping we could make a united front against the Trojan Horse.
It would be a great pity (and loss for OA) if we did not.

Stevan

PS The success of incentivised volunteer self-archiving in the Netherlands
has been a great asset, but, historically speaking, it will have had a
very different role in OA if it leads to complacency about mandates and
complicity with attempts to resist them.
Received on Sat Mar 10 2007 - 20:44:46 GMT