And if there's a catchy title? Misinformation can spread like wildfire.
Considering how information is so easily accessible, it's strange to me that a significant amount of academic work is hiding behind pay walls on the Internet. It may never be seen by the masses who just might need it most, despite organizations like The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization supporting open access to scientific information.
There are some exceptions, of course. academia.edu is a self-described place to share and follow research, but it comes with it's share of ethical issues. While authors may have done the research and written the papers, the copyright belongs to the journal publishers. Menachem Wecker wrote a thought provoking piece on the subject over on Vitae.
In the United States, citizens have petitioned for open access to tax-payer funded research, and succeeded in having the federal government respond by issuing a memorandum to Federal agencies that receive a significant amount of funding from the government, which requires them to publish their results free of charge.
Not irrelevant to the conversation about open access is the more recent discussion about clinical research trial publishing practices. The AllTrials Campaign seeks to have all results from clinical research made available, not just those results that make it to publication. Scientific publishing giant Elsevier is supporting this initiative. Elsevier plays a role in supporting open access as well.
But what good are open source academic publications if the content is so formal and context specific that the public in general can't make much sense of it?
Some pioneering science loving individuals are using social media to their advantage to share science with the world. Instead of clogging up Facebook news feeds with more pictures of babies and cats, they're firing out news articles about new scientific discoveries, up and coming innovators, and a whole lot of awesome. Below are a few of my favourites...
I *bleeping* love science
***heads up - "bleeping" isn't the actual word used in the name of this group!
Science is a Verb
Not an Exact Science Show
It would be interesting to know how often and to what extent non-academics would make use of academic articles if access was easier. Could it lead to the creation of a more knowledgeable population? Or is it likely to be ignored in favour of articles of videos that are quick to read and move on from?
What are your thoughts on open access to scientific information? Do you have a favourite Facebook group or Twitter handle that you follow?
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