Subject: Re: Excessive requests for papers/open access From: Martin Cooke <m.cooke@xxxxxxxx> Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2014 10:56:34 +0200 List-Archive:<http://lists.mcgill.ca/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=AUDITORY>I also agree with Giuseppe and I'd like to make a further point about open access, the lack of which brings about these requests in many cases. I think when scientists of the future look back to this period they will regard it as a historical aberration that we gave away free access to the results of our mainly publically-funded intellectual labour. Don't we want people from less well-off institutions to read our papers? Fortunately, things are changing. Some professional organisations are going over to complete open access. This is something being considered in ISCA (International Speech Communication Association) at the moment -- a community consultation is underway. Many funding agencies now require open access. More will follow. Once the transition to web-only journals is complete, it is more likely that the producers of research can more readily take control of the whole process. Many of us don't necessarily want to publish in new 'open' journals. New journals take time to establish and to get indexed (that's not to say it can't be done and there are some good examples). I believe the solution is for the major scientific associations in our area -- e.g., IEEE, AIP and ISCA -- to provide complete open access and to fund their (i.e., "our") worthwhile activities from conference levies. It works as a business model and is being done in other fields. We collectively own these bodies so it ought to be within our power to bring this about! Once that happens, I'd like to think that the "non-professional organisation" publishing houses will be forced to follow suit... Martin