[Air-L] open-access is the future: boycott locked-down academic journals

[Mathias Klang]

Martin,
Unfortunately quality in academia will only get you so far...

Mathias

Martin Garthwaite wrote:
> Danah,
>
> You're certainly not crazy, I currently have no plans for an academic career
> when I finish my PhD, but I would challenge the concept of free labour.
> Surely publishing papers in respected journals is an investment in your
> career. Quality of papers not quantity I'm guessing is the goal for most?
>
> Martin
>
> On Feb 7, 2008 6:07 AM, danah boyd <aoir.z3z at danah.org> wrote:
>
>   
>> At AOIR this year, we heard a lot about open-access journals and the
>> future of academic publishing.  These talks were extremely well-
>> received.  At the same time, I have a sneaking suspicion that most of
>> us came back home and continued to publish with the same respected
>> journals that we've always published with.  I've certainly seen a lot
>> of CFPs from folks wanting to publish issues in locked-down journals.
>>
>> Today, an article of mine was finally published in Sage's Convergence
>> series.  I should be excited by this, but I'm actually quite
>> depressed.  While I'm lucky to be visible enough that some folks will
>> find out about my article and ask me for a copy, most of the articles
>> in that issue will barely get read because they are virtually
>> inaccessible.  Additionally, while scholars will ask me for my
>> article, most policymakers and technologists will not, even though the
>> article is probably more relevant to them than it is to you.  I
>> believe that the locked-down nature of this publishing regime silences
>> academics while capitalizing off of our free labor at every turn.  I
>> think that this is unfair, unacceptable, and irresponsible.
>>
>> Thus, since I'm a blogger, I wrote a ranty blog entry about the topic:
>> http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2008/02/06/openaccess_is_t.html
>>
>> In said ranty blog entry, I laid out a set of steps for how to proceed
>> to make change.  For example, I think that all tenured faculty have a
>> responsibility to stop publishing in locked-down journals and help
>> build up the reputations of open-access ones.  (I even believe that
>> those who flout journal's restrictions by publishing their pieces on
>> their websites are failing future generations by not pushing for
>> change to happen.)  I offer steps for scholars, libraries,
>> universities, tenure committees, disciplinary associations, and
>> scholars at all stages.
>>
>> In short, I'd like to see a boycott of locked-down academic journals.
>> I think that it's particularly critical in our field since we are
>> doing work that is relevant beyond the academy.  I think that we need
>> to stand in solidarity to stop this abuse of our labor and this
>> silencing of our voices.
>>
>> Am I crazy?
>>
>> danah
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>>     
>
>
>
>   

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mathias Klang, LL.M., Ph.D.
University of Lund & University of Goteborg

Phone +46 46 2227079  Mobile: +46 705 677 910 
http://digital-rights.net/   http://resistancestudies.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~