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> I think you give to much credit to the manufacture of academic sausage. I don't understand what you mean by that. I merely point out it needs to be done and
by thirdstation 14y ago
> I think you give to much credit to the manufacture of academic sausage.
I don't understand what you mean by that. I merely point out it needs to be done and most discussions about open access publishing neglect to mention it.
- RyanMcGreal 14y agoThe discussions we're having about open access publishing are based on the understanding that new communications technologies specifically target those parts of academic publishing that cost money - the formatting, layout, publication and distribution of articles. That's why we're able to have a conversation about open access in the first place: the original source of scarcity has mostly evaporated, but Elsevier et al. are still collecting rentier profits from the artificial scarcity of access to a printing press. The part of academic journals that actually creates value - i.e. the work of writers, reviewers and editors - is mostly unpaid work anyway.
- thirdstation 14y agoAhh. Then you are mistaken Mr. McGreal. I give no credit at all to the production of academic sausage :-) Yes, it's cheaper to produce an archive-ready article and I think it should have moved into the category of solved problems long ago. It just hasn't. Like you said, the industry is ripe for disruption. It has been for over a decade. Anyway, I think we are generally on the same side. If you haven't already read the following you should: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/29/academic-publishers-murdoch-socialist http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/29/academic... He also makes the "rentier capitalism" analogy.
- RyanMcGreal 14y agoThanks for clarifying - and thanks for sharing the Monbiot column. I hadn't seen it before.