Publish or perish runs the adage. The publication of research is the bedrock of scientific careers and the foundation of grant applications. But for many years people have questioned the system's fairness. The normal mechanism is that scientists offer the fruits of their research—often bankrolled by the taxpayer-for nothing to publishers. Those publishers then charge money to people who wish to read their journals. Publishers have been making handsome profits from this arrangement. But change is afoot. Open-access publishing, in which papers are freely available immediately upon publication, is sweeping the dusty corridors. The catch is that the sponsors of research will have to fork out more money to pay for it.
展开▼
