The Access Principle: The Case for Open Access to Research and Scholarship (Digital Libraries and Electronic Publishing) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "The year 2003 signaled a breakthrough in scholarly publishing for what might be loosely termed the open access movement..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A well-researched and scholarly account of the issues surrounding the publication of research. The book is both balanced and fair in its discussion of the various models and responses to concerns about the accessibility of publicly funded research."
— Science

"John Willinsky is among the academic pioneers in the use of open access technology for research and scholarship. This book will prove invaluable for faculty, students, and independent scholars who wish to liberate themselves from the grip of the big corporate Internet colossus. Willinsky writes in a clear and convincing style, and his suggestions are right on target."
—Stanley Aronowitz, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Graduate Center, City University of New York

"John Willinsky understands the way the Internet changes everything for scholarly communication and has written a clear and compelling defense of open access, both in principle and in practice. I recommend it especially for its treatment of copyright issues and the special situation of scholarly societies and developing countries."
—Peter Suber, Open Access Project Director at Public Knowledge and Research Professor of Philosophy at Earlham College

"The subtitle of this book is somewhat misleading, as 'The Case for Open Access' takes up only a portion of the book. Histories of the scientific journal and the public library movement, while informative, don't add much to his central argument, and his criticism of the Bush administration's claims to a scientific basis for the No Child Left Behind Act is merely a tangent. Still, his book is thoughtful, informed, and thought-provoking, and his account of the role of the Internet and an incipient open-access movement is genuine news."
— New York Sun

Product Description

Winner of the 2006 Distinguished Book Award sponsored by the international journal Computers and Composition and Received the 2006 Blackwell Scholarship Award presented by the American Library Association (ALA)

Questions about access to scholarship go back farther than recent debates over subscription prices, rights, and electronic archives suggest. The great libraries of the past—from the fabled collection at Alexandria to the early public libraries of nineteenth-century America—stood as arguments for increasing access. In The Access Principle, John Willinsky describes the latest chapter in this ongoing story—online open access publishing by scholarly journals—and makes a case for open access as a public good.

A commitment to scholarly work, writes Willinsky, carries with it a responsibility to circulate that work as widely as possible: this is the access principle. In the digital age, that responsibility includes exploring new publishing technologies and economic models to improve access to scholarly work. Wide circulation adds value to published work; it is a significant aspect of its claim to be knowledge. The right to know and the right to be known are inextricably mixed. Open access, argues Willinsky, can benefit both a researcher-author working at the best-equipped lab at a leading research university and a teacher struggling to find resources in an impoverished high school.

Willinsky describes different types of access—the New England Journal of Medicine, for example, grants open access to issues six months after initial publication, and First Monday forgoes a print edition and makes its contents immediately accessible at no cost. He discusses the contradictions of copyright law, the reading of research, and the economic viability of open access. He also considers broader themes of public access to knowledge, human rights issues, lessons from publishing history, and "epistemological vanities." The debate over open access, writes Willinsky, raises crucial questions about the place of scholarly work in a larger world—and about the future of knowledge.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 307 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262232421
• ISBN-13: 978-0262232425
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #700,372 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Technical, commercial, and philosophical considerations, December 6, 2007

By	Paul A. Baker "communicator" (Madison, Wis., US) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

We live in an historic moment. Publishing is moving from print to digital formats, and the model of `open access' publishing challenges traditional methods of commercial publishing and academic publishing as well.

In The Access Principle, John Willinsky argues that open access to research archives and journals has the potential to change the public presence of science and scholarship and to help inform civic discussion and policy making.

A professor at the University of British Columbia, Willinsky argues that a commitment to the value and quality of research carries with it a responsibility to extend the circulation of research findings as far as possible, to all who are interested in it, and to all who might profit by it.

Willinsky's case for open access is multifaceted. It draws on the spirit of copyright law,
the mandate of scholarly associations, the promise of global knowledge exchanges,
the public's right to know, the prospect of enhanced reading and indexing, the improved economic efficiencies of publishing, and the history of the academic journal.

Willinsky is careful to explain that `open access' does not mean `free access.' Open access articles cannot be read without a substantial investment in hardware, software, and networking. The open access movement does not operate in denial of economic realities, he says; it is simply acting on a scholarly tradition that has long been concerned with extending the circulation of knowledge.

Research knowledge has been transformed into a capitalized commodity and economic driver, he writes. The resulting corporate publishing concentration, with its relentless focus on knowledge capitalization and shareholder value, has allowed journal prices to increase well above inflation rates. University libraries cannot keep up, and even Tier 1 research institutions are dropping expensive journal subscriptions by the dozens and scores.

Online scholarly resources are now available in a variety of forms, yet it's the research article in particular that's at the center of a struggle, Willinsky says. The struggle is over online publishing and whether it will further contribute to, or whether it will begin to reverse, the current state of declining access to research within an otherwise expanding global academic community.

Willinsky argues that scholarly associations must ask themselves whether they will use this new publishing medium, already integral to the scholarly process, to extend and advance the circulation and exchange of knowledge. The associations need to consider the principles of access and the availability of open access publishing in the short term and the long term. They should consider cooperating with research libraries and better attune themselves to what's in the best interest of their members and authors, as well as the cause of research and scholarship which they serve.