Academic Publishing in the Online Era: What Will Be For-Fee and What Will Be For-Free?

Abstract

The following exchange took place between 10 and 13 July 1999 as a self-contained module of the American Scientist Forum (a final postscript being added on 23 November, 1999). http://amsci-forum.amsci.org/archives/september98-forum.html The main participants in the exchange were Stevan Harnad of the University of Southampton and Hal Varian, of the University of California, Berkeley. The exchange focuses on the problematic issue - crucial to Harnad's thesis - of the extent to which academic authors are prepared to give their work away by making it freely available, without charge, on the Net. Although the exchange has been edited slightly to make the discussion easier to follow, it seemed appropriate, given the subject matter, to retain it in its original quote/comment form. Harnad begins by emphasising 11 of his argument's main points, and by providing addresses for the various locations on the Net where the relevant publications can be found.