Comments on: Research Works Act, ctd. http://scienceblog.darrouzet-nardi.net/?p=980 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:59:03 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.7.1 By: Brian http://scienceblog.darrouzet-nardi.net/?p=980&cpage=1#comment-14270 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:59:03 +0000 http://anthony.darrouzet-nardi.net/scienceblog/?p=980#comment-14270 There are moments when I want to just upload my manuscripts on my web site (assuming that I have a web site). It wouldn’t be peer reviewed, but I figure if someone is interested in my work, then it is part of their job to also scrutinize it. The readers may comment on it openly on the posted site, and eventually it would be like it was peer reviewed–as its pluses and minuses are documented in the comments. I know not everyone is or willing to be that open and honest because of pride, etc., which is probably why this publisher route prevails.

I never understood why we pay so much for someone else to distribute our research when we can do it ourselves (sort of like how music is done today). Some artists may opt to go through big studios, but many are now just doing it on their own via MySpace, YouTube, what not. A service like Apple’s iTunes can help with the distribution, but share the “profit” with the content provider. We pay a butt load to submit and our research to be peer-reviewed and then edited (usually the editor or assistant editor never really checks for writing quality), then some of us have to pay again to view our own work on the publisher’s site.

My tax money pays for my own research and for it to be public. Can’t really do that if there is a giant pay wall. Well, if I paid so much to publish through these publishers, they should make the article free for readers. For them to charge both way doesn’t seem proper, unless they were promoting our work like book publishers do for their content providers–book signing etc. I want!

I haven’t really thought through my opinion but that’s my ramble on the publisher side of things, so far.

About the RWA…that’s another ramble, ramble, ramble… (I’ve watched too much South Park, lately)

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