I’m not sure the phrase “closed access” is a fair epithet to use against mainstream scientific journals. Even if they charge $20,000/year, most scientists have access to them via their institutional library, and there aren’t many scientists who wouldn’t send you a copy of their article if you asked for it. In many fields, the articles are available on the web after they appear in the journals. And if none of those apply to a particular article, you can probably visit a university library and read it there.
I’m not trying to deny that open access would be better, but it’s not as if the scientific journals are trying to maintain a secretive cabal; they’re doing a good job of spreading information among the involved professionals. The fact that there are more people interested these days means that open access would be more valuable than before.
It’s still science, even if it’s expensive to get access to the academy.
I’m not sure the phrase “closed access” is a fair epithet to use against mainstream scientific journals. Even if they charge $20,000/year, most scientists have access to them via their institutional library, and there aren’t many scientists who wouldn’t send you a copy of their article if you asked for it. In many fields, the articles are available on the web after they appear in the journals. And if none of those apply to a particular article, you can probably visit a university library and read it there.
I’m not trying to deny that open access would be better, but it’s not as if the scientific journals are trying to maintain a secretive cabal; they’re doing a good job of spreading information among the involved professionals. The fact that there are more people interested these days means that open access would be more valuable than before.
It’s still science, even if it’s expensive to get access to the academy.