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

[Heidelberg, Chris]

I tried to respond to this earlier, but the moderator deemed it too long
(talk about open-access LOL). I work in the media world, and the media
world controls publishing and it is less than 20 companies that call all
of the shots. The tenured professors are not giving up their cozy
relationship with the publishers who are the real flesh peddlers here.
No one beats the house at its own game unless new rules come into play.
Google, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft have demonstrated that one can
utilize the free model for publishing purposes, but we will have to
re-define academic publishing. First, the feds require that we create
published products in audio, video, print and web that are accessible
and 508 compliant by all people. Second colleges should set up their own
digital publishing outfits that are run by faculty, students and pros in
the business. Printed books are great but becoming unaffordable for
many,and the digital alternative that is ad-based may be ready for prime
time. There are many great research projects that are not seeing the
light of day because of the media monolopoly and it is time for the
dispossed to create their own online journals. I have worked in the
media for 20 years and I arrived at that conclusion long ago, and so
must academic otherwise it is engaging in self-censorship rather than
spreading knowledge which we are all required to do. 

-----Original Message-----
From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
[mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Christian Nelson
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 4:47 PM
To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
Subject: Re: [Air-L] open-access is the future: boycott locked-down
academic journals

I wish that publishing became open-access. Unfortunately, it won't any
time soon. At least, it won't until renowned scholars switch from
publishing in locked-down journals to publishing in open-access
journals, because untenured folks have to publish in the places where
their most reputable colleagues do, and successful scholars have much to
lose by publishing via open-access journals. No longer could they
control the editing process as fully as they do now. As plenty of
researchers in the sociology of the sciences have observed, the most
successful scholars in any discipline form a group who all know each
others' work, monopolize editorial board positions, and tend to inflate
the value of eachother's work and that of eachother's students such that
papers by those outside the group are denied publication much more than
consideration of quality warrant. If the current group of gatekeeping
scholars advocated open-source publishing they would lose their current
publishing advantage and everything that comes with that--an easier time
of promoting the careers of their supportive friends and students, an
easier time padding out their vitas so that they can get grants, etc. In
other words, they would threaten their enjoyment of what famed
sociologist Robert Merton called the Matthew effect. Why would they ever
do that?
--Christian Nelson

_______________________________________________
The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association
of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or
unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org

Join the Association of Internet Researchers: 
http://www.aoir.org/