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idea that open access material is not peer-reviewed is plain wrong.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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