More and more
scientists are publishing their results online. And as a result, it's becoming
easier to link to new knowledge. A Berlin-based platform called ScienceOpen
wants to tap into that.
"It's really
important for me that everyone gets immediate access to the wonderful work that
scientists do," says Stephanie Dawson. The Yale-educated biologist is the
managing director for ScienceOpen, a research platform that went live this
week.
"Access to this
research is like a human right," Dawson told DW. "After all, it's all
research funded with taxpayers' money."
But it's not only about
who pays - it's also about what gets done with the research, and who is allowed
to work with it.
Then there are the
traditional publishers of science
research. They criticize online open access journals and portals for
lacking editorial quality control.
It hasn't stopped the
trend towards open access in Europe, though.
Lateral
thinking
The science historian
Professor Jürgen Renn has been an advocate of open access for some time.
Renn, who is director
of science history at the Max-Planck-Institute, says the only way to achieve
groundbreaking insights is through a permanent exchange of ideas between
scientists - wherever they are in the world.
"There should be
no artificial barriers stopping you from getting from one article to
another," says Renn. "We should all be allowed to surf freely in
knowledge!"
It would certainly make
it easier to do interdisciplinary work. Renn says Darwin and Einstein mastered
that approach with their respective theories of evolution and relativity.
"Both of them spotted
connections which other scientists - with their specialist's view - may have
missed."
He says it's all about
"findability and linkability."
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