“Please pay $800 to read this article”: An open letter to paywall companies

Julian Monge-Najera

doi:10.15517/rbt.v66i1.32238

Abstract

Significant amounts of economic resources are spent by poor countries for access to scientific information that is blocked by pay-walls, and when fees are corrected for local economies, they can be the equivalent of hundreds of dollars per article. Pay-walls, is controlled by a small group of companies in rich countries, block knowledge from the societies that need it most. These companies should adjust their fees according to local economies: this would be fairer and would benefit everyone, including the same companies.

Highlights

Significant amounts of economic resources are spent by poor countries for access to scientific information that is blocked by pay-walls, and when fees are corrected for local economies, they can be the equivalent of hundreds of dollars per article
I still remember my first visit to a science library: I was a student in the Invertebrate Zoology course and we had to research about vertical migration in marine organisms
The reality shocked me: most of the journals were not available; that day of 1980 I had a hard wakening to the reality of being a scientist in Latin America

Summary

Introduction

Significant amounts of economic resources are spent by poor countries for access to scientific information that is blocked by pay-walls, and when fees are corrected for local economies, they can be the equivalent of hundreds of dollars per article. For many years they have given science an important service by publishing good research, but they have done so in a way that created two classes of scientists: those with access to knowledge, and those who, like me, cannot afford it.

Results

Conclusion