Yup
THES itself is NOT peer reviewed!
Diana
On 10/6/08 18:32, "Hubbard Bill" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> There is an article on Open Access in the Times Higher of June 5th by
> Philip Altbach ("Hidden cost of open access") which might well form
> opinion amongst its UK academic readership within our institutions.
> http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode
> =402257&c=1
>
> Unfortunately, this article is is entirely based on the false idea that
> there is no peer-review for open access material: and also by
> implication seems to be saying that there can never be any quality
> control of web-based material.
>
> ". . . [Open Access]. . . But there are several problems with it. Chief
> among
> them is that peer review is eliminated - all knowledge becomes equal.
> There is no quality control on the internet, and a Wikipedia article has
> the same value as an essay by a distinguished researcher."
>
> There seems to be conflation between open access
> as part of scholarly communication and simply mounting a webpage. To
> confuse these two things is very misleading because, as as we know, the
> idea that open access material is not peer-reviewed is plain wrong. Open
> access academic literature in journals or repositories can be
> peer-reviewed as normal. The quality of material made available on the
> internet has just the same problems and solutions as quality control in
> other media: what provenance has the material got? What quality
> processes has it undergone?
>
> This lack of awareness unfortunately undermines the whole article, but
> Altbach does make one other independent error when he says that using
> the internet for dissemination means that less-well known institutions
> would likely gain less attention than Harvard. In fact, as evidenced by
> the commercial world, the internet offers opportunities for smaller
> institutions to play on a more level playing field. For researchers at
> any institution, the internet offers a dissemination medium where the
> quality of the research is what can gain attention rather than the past
> reputation of the institution.
>
> Altbach is right in emphasising the importance of peer-review, but then
> I am not aware of anyone who seriously as says otherwise. Obviously,
> material from a smaller institution needs close peer-review for
> acceptance of its quality, but the same is true of material from Harvard
> or Oxford or anywhere else.
>
> It is a pity that such an article has appeared in the Times Higher, as
> the circulation that it will receive probably means that we will have to
> once more reassure academics within our own institutions that open
> access does not mean the death of peer-review.
>
> Regards,
>
> Bill
>
>
>
> --
>
> Bill Hubbard
> SHERPA Manager
>
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>
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Professor Diana Kornbrot
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