Hi all, I'm really doubtful as to the success of these boycotts, if success is defined as researchers actually following en masse. I see no indication that the previous (still in force?) Elsevier boycott (The Cost of Freedom) has hurt the publisher (maybe someone can provide evidence to the contrary). The same seems to have happened with Harold Varmus' Open Letter in 2000, signed by tens of thousands (it was not targeted at Elsevier but at all non-OA publishers, that is virtually all publishers at the time; see https://www.plos.org/about/plos/history).
But I think these boycotts (or boycott threats) can play a role in raising among researchers the general awareness about the main issue at hand (OA and commercial publishers). It certainly helps me, for instance, convince colleagues that they shouldn't be bothered by Elsevier's recent moves to restrict its self-archiving policy. See https://gowers.wordpress.com/2013/01/28/the-elsevier-boycott-one-year-on for more elaborate thoughts on this subject. Marc Couture _______________________________________________ GOAL mailing list GOAL@eprints.org http://mailman.ecs.soton.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/goal
