Open Access Archivangelism

All the author opinions cited by U. Utah librarian Rick Anderson in his recent UKSG squib are familiar ones, based largely on author ignorance. Their rebuttals have been known for years (e.g., the self-archiving FAQ since 2001 and even earlier in the AmSci OA Forum). Most are covered in this:

Harnad, S. (2006) Opening Access by Overcoming Zeno's Paralysis, in Jacobs, N., Eds. Open Access: Key Strategic, Technical and Economic Aspects, chapter 8. Chandos.

The very same prima facie author objections would no doubt have been voiced if authors had been polled in advance on the (universal) mandate to publish or perish.

Although it’s unclear what his underlying motivation is, Utah librarian Rick Anderson has consistently sounded like a publisher’s advocate (or subscription agent!) for years and years now, and in his UKSG squib he is simply citing the persistence of author ignorance and the status quo as evidence and justification for the persistence of author ignorance and the status quo!

The remedy, of course, is effective global Green OA mandates.

Green OA and Green OA mandates grow anarchically, article by article and institution/funder by institution/funder, rather than journal by journal. So journals can only be cancelled once all or almost all of their contents are accessible via Green OA — and that day arrives only when Green OA and effective Green OA mandates have become global and are generating full or almost full compliance.

Harnad, S (2014) The only way to make inflated journal subscriptions unsustainable: Mandate Green Open Access. LSE Impact of Social Sciences Blog 4/28

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On past postings by Rick Anderson:

More Skulduggery from SSP's Scholarly Scullery February 15. 2014

The Need to Upgrade All OA Mandates to Add Immediate-Institutional-Deposit Requirement December 14. 2013

Spurning the Better to Keep Burning for the Best October 11. 2013

Openness Probe for the SSP Scholarly Scullery September 27. 2013

Is the Library Community Friend or Foe of OA? September 16. 2013

Librarians Applauding Embargoes on Open Access to Research Findings? May 4. 2007

Peter Suber's Fair and Gentle But Firm Rejoinders to OA Opponents March 27. 2007