The Public Library of Science wants to set science free. So says scientist Stephen Curry in an article published in New Scientist.
Curry is one of many scientists who are in favor of more open access to their work, in part because they believe that science works best when it’s more widely available. Some governments are beginning to see things the same way, especially when it comes to the public having free access to the results of publicly funded science.
Scientific publication is changing, in possibly the most radical way since the invention of the scientific journal almost four hundred years ago. It won’t happen without friction and dispute, but everyone, scientists and publishers alike, is going to have to adapt.
It’s the old story: evolve or perish.
rjb