Just two comments on the matter: 1) for people at my status (junior researchers) that are on the job market what counts (for the most part) is the impact factor and the prestige of the journal. for me (at least) now is a bad time to choose a publication outlet according to the journal's business model. In the game of "how many publications and where where they published" I cannot afford to loose any points. I am not saying this is the only consideration, but it is a strong one for me.
2) On the other hand, I was surprised to hear about the difficulties of freelancers and scientists working for conservation and planning firms (not universities) to keep updated with the literature and get access to papers they need. this is not in the tropics but here in the US. I don't have any means to judge how many people are having this problems, but it is out there. for them, open-access journals are a bless. so there is a personal price we have to pay for a better future. sounds familiar ? Roi On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 6:31 AM, James J. Roper <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > For people in the third world, there is a strong tendency to favor open > access. Why? Because it is economically viable. The cost of > purchasing articles is prohibitive for many researchers and so they > would prefer to be able to publish AND read open access articles. And, > of course, there are now many, and the number is growing, very good > scientists in tropical countries, and since their research is tropical > for the most part, I think we will see a gradual trend in these > researchers to publish in open access journals, which will little by > little increase the quality of those journals. As they become better, > they will get more submittals and the cycle will go on. > > If first world journals actually recognized the economics for Third > World researchers, and did some conversion that made them as easy to > purchase for a third world scientist as for a first world scientist, it > would make a big difference. But, just go online and try to buy an > article - they make no distinction for currency. So, a $25 article for > you, is also that for me, only $25 for me is the equivalent of $40 or > so. Imagine subscribing to Science or any other high end journal - also > prohibitively expensive for most. Even universities down here often do > not have the money for an institutional subscription. > > Thus, Third World research might just go the way of open access, while > first world stays in typical journals, causing another First World - > Third World separation. > > Cheers, > > Jim > > On 27/Mar/08 16:42, Andrew Rypel wrote: > > Dear Ecologers, > > > > I'd like to probe the forum on people's opinion of the publication > models > > available to scientists today. I (and probably most of us) have seen a > > massive rise in the number of open access publications over just the > last > > 2-3 years. And yet this seems to be happening alongside an explosion in > the > > number of traditional-style publications as well. What does this all > mean > > for us ecologists trying to get our studies read by as many people as > > possible and by those that can take your information and make a > difference > > with it – either through further research or policy? > > > > I'll be honest that I'm leery of many of the new open access journals. > I do > > see value in them, especially for those who are at underfunded research > > centers that don't have access to many of the mainstream publications. > On > > the other hand, what are they? Do they ultimately reach as many people? > And > > do they reach the "right" people – the ones that control aspects of > policy > > or have top-tier research programs. Are these new journals to be > indexed in > > Web of Science or the other academic search engines? So many questions > > surround this new format and I just wonder what the rest of the > community > > thinks. > > > > Andrew > > > > -- > > > James J. Roper, Ph.D. > > James J. Roper > Ecologia, Evolução e Dinâmicas Populacionais > de Vertebrados Terrestres > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Caixa Postal 19034 > 81531-990 Curitiba, Paraná, Brasil > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Telefone: 55 41 33857249 > celular: 55 41 99870543 > Skype-in (USA):+1 706 5501064 > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Ecologia e Conservação na UFPR <http://www.bio.ufpr.br/ecologia/> > Home Page <http://jjroper.googlespages.com> > Ars Artium Consulting <http://arsartium.googlespages.com> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >
