I am the Online Community Manager at PLoS-ONE (Public Library of Science). My job is to try to motivate you to comment on the papers there. My scientific specialty is chronobiology (circadian rhythms and photoperiodism), with additional interests in comparative physiology, animal behavior and evolution. You can contact me at: Coturnix@gmail.com
Buy the 2007 Science Blogging Anthology:
Buy the 2006 Science Blogging Anthology:
Stay abreast of your favorite bloggers' latest and greatest via e-mail, via a daily digest.
Read the archives of my old blogs:
Add Scienceblogs to your Technorati Favorites!
Dictionary of Circadian Physiology
Basic Terms and Concepts in Math and Science
« The so-called Facebook Scandal | Main | The Grand LOL-PZ Birthday Bash Linkfest »
Category: Open Science
Posted on: March 8, 2008 11:50 PM, by Coturnix
Information Liberation By DANIEL AKST:
If your child has a life-threatening disease and you're desperate to read the latest research, you'll be dismayed to learn that you can't -- at least not without hugely expensive subscriptions to a bevy of specialized journals or access to a major research library. Your dismay might turn to anger when you realize that you paid for this research.
Read the whole thing....
Find more posts in: 
Education & Careers
Medicine & Health
YES! Send me a free issue of Seed.
If I like what I see, I'll receive 5 more issues (6 in all) for just $14.95. That's 50% off the cover price! If I'm not completely satisfied, I'll simply write "cancel" on the invoice and owe nothing. The free issue is mine to keep.
(Non-U.S. subscribers, click here.)
Comments
"Alas, the new NIH policy will allow a 12-month lag between publication and posting on PubMed."
preposterous. how hard is it to cut and paste and upload? i guess i'm asking the wrong question.
hats off to PLoS! keep up the great work!
~C
Posted by: ~C4Chaos | March 9, 2008 8:25 AM
@C4Chaos,
Yes, the 12 month delay is not ideal. However, even delayed access is better than no access at all !!
Here in the UK, it's a 6 month delay (maximum) and bar 1, all of the main funders of scientific/technical/medical MANDATE that the research must be made Open Access (OA).
In the UK, it is important to note that such research must be made OA NO LATER than 6 months.
The advantage of OA Journals such as PLoS is that all Papers are OA as soon as they are published. No messing around by these folks.
Posted by: McDawg | March 9, 2008 10:21 AM
To provide a bit of balance (and please don't see this as me defending the evil empire)... Elsevier now has a patient research option so everyone can search Elsevier journals using ScienceDirect and then patients can order copies of articles for $4.95 each, which is just a handling fee. (researchers still have to pay the standard $35 or so) http://patient-research.elsevier.com/patientresearch/about
Posted by: Christina Pikas | March 9, 2008 10:49 AM