Over the past few years, there has been a huge push towards making educational information freely available online. In most cases, the results have been extremely advantageous for online learners who do not always have access to university-level libraries.
Now, some professors are advocating to make academic journals publicly available. In a nutshell: university faculty regularly publish articles in academic journals as a requirement of their position. Students regularly need access to the information in these journals for papers and other research projects.
Those who do not have access to a university library may find it difficult to find these articles elsewhere. They may have to pay for an article service or purchase each article a la carte – both options are pricey and are not always available.
Academic Danah Boyd is currently boycotting academic journals by publishing in open-access journals instead – and she's encouraging her peers to do the same. Here's what she has to say:
"I'd be sad to see some of the academic publishers go, but if they can't evolve to figure out new market options, I have no interest in supporting their silencing practices. I think that scholars have a responsibility to make their work available as a public good. I believe that scholars should be valued for publishing influential material that can be consumed by anyone who might find it relevant to their interests. I believe that the product of our labor should be a public good. I do not believe that scholars should be encouraged to follow stupid rules for the sake of maintaining norms."
Check out her post on academic journals to learn more about the boycott and her ideals for open access.
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