24.08.2017
Diffusion des savoirs scientifiques, Enseignement supérieur et recherche, Ressources scientifiques et techniques
A bold open-access push in Germany could change the future of academic publishing
« BERLIN—In a third-floor conference room here overlooking the famous Potsdamer Platz, once bisected by the Berlin Wall, the future of academic publishing is being negotiated. The backdrop is fitting, because if the librarians and academic leaders at the table get their way, another major divide will soon fall: the paywall that surrounds most research papers.
Over the past 2 years, more than 150 German libraries, universities, and research institutes have formed a united front trying to force academic publishers into a new way of doing business. Instead of buying subscriptions to specific journals, consortium members want to pay publishers an annual lump sum that covers publication costs of all papers whose first authors are at German institutions. Those papers would be freely available around the world; meanwhile, German institutions would receive access to all the publishers’ online content. (…) »
source > sciencemag.org, Gretchen Vogel, Kai Kupferschmidt, 23 août 2017
