AM S J
Editorial
Senior Editor, AMSJ
raged between the most unlikely of foes. The gripes of a single blog post inspired a group
fees for access to their treasury of knowledge.
the Research Works Act, a proposed bill in the United States (US) aimed at denying publicLong-standing price increases, accompanied
The importance placed on impact factor has protests and scathing publicity. Though the
been thrown into sharp relief by the rise of online publishing.
Along with cost, the principle of access for alike underscores the ensuing debate. There
publishers. Open access (OA) represents a new business model in the academic journal industry, underpinned by the growth and reach of the to all research material, as well as the right to
journals. Not only are they responsible for
the editorial process; a peculiar arrangement that plays into the hands of publishers. Before the quick and widespread exchange of
(PLoS) and BioMed Central (BMC) are leading knowledge. The barriers of access and cost
journals. tasks redundant and allowed publishers to
Researchers are equally culpable for their current plight. Typically, works of intellectual increased the amount of scholarly work payment has become both intrinsic and unique to academic journals, a paradigm from centuries before when journals were unable
the probability of research being read access (OA) can integrate new technological
publishing has seen commercial publishing
two preceding years and the total number
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Australian Medical Student Journal