Hot Topic of the Week: More on the Elsevier Boycott (and Author Rights)

by Jonathan H. Harwell, Georgia Southern University

Last week we noted the kerfuffles about journal prices and open access publishing, and in particular the call for an Elsevier boycott.

The story has reached the mainstream media.  Tim Worstall of the libertarian Adam Smith Institute has contributed an article about it to Forbes:  “Elsevier’s Publishing Model Might be About to Go Up in Smoke.”  Meanwhile in The Guardian, Martin Paul Eve of the University of Sussex questions the aspects of the ecology of scholarly communication that are at the root of these problems.  (The REF he refers to is explained here.)

Also, thanks to the inimitable Steven Harnad for pointing out the power that authors can exercise without calling for boycotts.

Finally, kudos to all those who are making open access happen, including the Southern Anthropological Society & UT-Knoxville and authors like our own poet Dr. Richard Flynn.