Switch to Online Journals Under Attack

John Richard Schrock
A trend to make printed scientific journals available online worldwide, is under fire. Although President Barack Obama has signed a measure to make the National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy permanent, some US lawmakers have launched legislation to roll back the effort. While advocates assert moving science journals online is tech-savvy, economical and the only proper use of taxpayer-generated research, problems with costs, archiving, copyright, and support of small professional organisations (centred on their journal identity and research collaboration) are causing second thoughts.
The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, or SPARC, has advocated the switch to electronic journals to make biomedical research available to users, including third-world countries that cannot afford the rising costs of journals.
Full report on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0068 22 March 2009