Maha Bali Originally published on: April 23, 2014
What are your views on the topic of open access publishing? Are you for it, against it, suspicious of it, or ambivalent? We’re hoping that whatever your views, you’ll be interested in some of the events in store at the upcoming Open Access event, April 27-28.
The most important moral argument I have for open access publishing, especially in the digital era, is this: the content of academic journals is based on the hard work of the authors and peer reviewers, none of whom get paid for publishing their articles in academic journals. And yet, publishers charge readers for access to those articles, the marginal cost of which is almost zero for the digitally published versions of the journals. The research those academic authors have done is often funded by governmental organizations, i.e., taxpayer money, and yet taxpayers (who have already paid indirectly) are asked to pay again to read the results of that research.
I believe that many of the arguments against open access publishing are based on myths/misconceptions about quality, payment structures and the ways it can be achieved, as I discuss in Bali (2013). I also got together with Mark Muehlhaeusler from the AUC library (another advocate of open access) and wrote an article (2014) about why (Arab) academics should care about open access publishing, and what they can do about it.
Mark also suggested it was time AUC led an event on open access, and to open that event to the public. Since then, we have been working with Meggan Houlihan from the library and with Access to Knowledge for Development (A2K4D) via Dr. Nagla Rizk and Nadine Weheba, through whom we have been able to involve prominent open access advocates nationally and internationally.
The event will include workshops and a joint panel by two guest visitors, Nicholas Cop(representing the Latin American open access initiative SciELO) and Iryna Kuchma(representing the international organization EIFL). Another panel on Open Access in Egypt includes panelists from BibAlex, OpenEgypt, Tahrir Academy, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Cairo University. There will also be a panel on copyright and disseminating research, including panelists from within and outside of AUC.
References
Bali, M. (2013, November 25). A map for the maze of open access publishing. Al-Fanar Media.
Retrieved from: http://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2013/11/a-guide-to-the-maze-of-open-
access-publishing/
Bali, M. & Muehlhaeusler, M. (2014, March 25). Take advantage of open access publishing.
Al-Fanar Media. Retrieved from: http://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2014/03/open-access/
