Skip to main content

A War on Research? Or A War on Academic Inequality?

A War on Research? Or A War on Academic Inequality?

 

Well, not quite a war, but certainly a preliminary battle guaranteed to shake things up.



With the commodification of academic research output comes enhanced inequality. Journals, hosted/owned by global publishing houses, are certainly a grey area, and quite a contentious one at that. Forget paying to have your research published in them – that’s a separate issue; but focus on the access to knowledge, especially in second and third world countries, where Universities are not as well financially endowed as they may be in Australasia, Europe, or North America.

 

Increasingly high fees to access journals, not only en masse, but for researchers (and research students) to obtain single article access (electronic or reprint), is fast becoming an additional parameter that restricts quality academic development in some societies. With fees of upwards of USD 20 per article access, such costs are out of reach for many emerging researchers in Africa, India, and other countries. Yet, access to the latest research is indeed a necessity, and certainly a costly one.

 

That is, until a couple (well, more than a couple) of ‘work-around’ options were created – sites to help researchers access downloads of current research (published elsewhere) – free of charge. I’m not delving into the ethics here – but my personal view is in ensuring equitable access to all research for all researchers. Fees are fine, but, in context to the society they are being charged.

 

These work-around’s though, are now at risk. At risk of being shut down in the very markets that could be argued, need them most. Select ‘Goliath publishing houses’ have collaborated to get court instruction to shut down access to these sites – in a test case that not only challenges the perpetuation of inequalities, but also could put such a spanner in the works to the research machinery, that researchers in these locations may simply be unable to continue.

 

Regardless your stance, ethical or otherwise, do review the following article which delves further into the issue, not only with more context, but more consequences too.

 

https://www-newsclick-in.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.newsclick.in/Elsevier-Wiley-Declare-War-Research-Community-India?amp

  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Statement of Commitment on Climate Change (The Third Degree)

Statement of Commitment on Climate Change   The Third Degree acknowledges the scientific consensus regarding the existence of climate change and the substantial contribution the human population is now making to this via our greenhouse gas emissions.   Climate change is one of the biggest global health threats of the twenty-first century. Current international carbon reduction commitments are nowhere near enough to avoid this threat. Despite the urgent need for steep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to avoid dangerous climate change, the level of global emissions continues to increase. The threat to future generations grows larger with every passing year.   The current generation of adults has a responsibility to do everything we possibly can to protect the children of today and tomorrow from dangerous climate change. Hence it is of utmost importance that climate change is included as an urgent priority area for advocacy, research, policy and practice...

Upcoming Webinars | June & July 2021

Upcoming Webinars | June & July 2021   For the remainder of June, plus the four (4) weeks in July, we have a series of webinars that focus on approaches to research, literature, and research communication. The webinar topics are applicable to early and mid-journey PhD candidates, but anyone thinking of, or nearing completion of their journey are welcome to attend.   Wednesday 23 June 2021 | Introduction to Observational Research Facilitator | Dr Craig J Selby   Observational research allows the researcher to see what their subjects really do when confronted with various choices or situations. As the name implies, is a way of collecting data through observing – either directly or indirectly – but either way, the researcher has an active involvement in the process. Observation data collection method is classified as a participatory study, as the researcher immerses themselves in the setting where the respondents are. Register Here: https://www.eventbrite...
Negativity & the PhD   I think we all know that the PhD is not a walk in the park; no one expects it to be. There are challenges, some quite big too, as part of the journey.   Our growth and development is both professional and personal.   Professional in developing our skills and credibility as a research. Developing research skills, intuition, communication skills, and of course, learning along the way. Personally, we grow in our confidence, in our interpersonal and collaborative skills, and in our negotiation, compromise, and maybe even crisis management skills.   To me, these are all positives. Growth is positive, even if there’s a little pain in the way.   What concerns me personally though is the excessive, almost overwhelming negativity out there about the journey, especially on social media. So called ‘support groups’ over-emphasise negatives on the journey – poor supervisors, funding issues, R2, the toxicity of academia – many as...