View concerning Open Access

From: Steve Berry <berry_at_UCHICAGO.EDU>
Date: Fri, 14 May 2010 11:03:36 -0500

Stimulated by a recent discussion with a colleague claiming at first to be a
skeptic, even an opponent, of open access,I would like to present my personal
view--which my colleague accepted and found totally compatible with his
skepticism.
The essential idea is this:  Scientific findings and scientific information
achieve their values only when they are made available
to the communities where such findings and information can be used.  Those
findings and information are public goods in the
strict economic sense, that they do not lose value by being used.  In fact,
scientific information goes beyond the traditional 
economists' model in that it increases in value with increased use.  This means
that the agency that provides financial support
for carrying out the research also carries a responsibility for enabling the
results of that research to be made available to the
audience of potential users.  In short, the supporter of the research is
obligated to provide sufficient funding to enable the researcher
to publish the results of the work.  The researcher is normally the best judge
of what medium or media would be most effective for this.
If it happens to be a journal that has page charges, then the funder of the
research carries the responsibility of providing the funds
to pay those page charges.  It's as simple as that.

Sincerely,
Steve Berry
Received on Fri May 14 2010 - 23:22:13 BST