
European funders detail their open-access plan - Vinnl
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/11/european-funders-detail-their-open-access-plan
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Vinnl
> But structural biologist Lynn Kamerlin, who wrote the open letter, says the
> guidance still limits researchers’ freedom to publish their work. “It’s a
> step in right direction,” she says, but “I’m afraid [it gives researchers] a
> false illusion of choice. … This is something that funders and publishers
> should negotiate rather than putting researchers in the crosshairs.”

The primary goal of Plan S is to transform journals to Open Access, at least
in the sense that they allow all research they publish to be freely available
at the time of publication _somewhere_. In other words: the goal is for
journals that do not immediately make some articles available to no longer
exist.

That means that it is, and will always be, fundamentally incompatible with
Kamerlin's wishes: for academics to be able to publish in any journals they
want, regardless of whether they immediately make their research available.

There is also no way that funders would be able to achieve their goal through
negotiation - which is why they haven't, in the decades the OA movement has
existed now. If they cannot restrict where researchers can publish, they
cannot negotiate: all they can do is accept whatever demands the publishers
make, because if they don't, they're limiting the ability to publish wherever.

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Vinnl
And maybe as an addendum: arguments like the one Kamerlin is making are always
wrapped under the guise of "academic freedom". I feel this is disingenuous.

Academic freedom is important because we do not want funders to suppress
results of academic research that does not suit their world view.

That is not likely to be at risk when funders demand publication in OA venues,
however. Rather, when the term is used in this context, academics are not
afraid of their research being repressed, but their career progression.

It's a legitimate worry. However, it's of a far different nature than academic
freedom, and tolerating research behind paywalls is not the only solution.

