25 signatures reached
To: UK government.
Access to open access journal articles to those with no current institutional affiliation
Facilitate, as a matter of priority, open access publishing in all academic journals.
Why is this important?
Current Government policy on pensions provision is based on the assumption that one third of one's life post starting work will be spent in retirement.
The ability of retirees' ability 'to retain our intellectual, cultural and social capital' (Hartman, 2009) is compromised by the reluctance of university libraries to allow retired staff access away from university sites to e journals (see Paul Armstrong, Univ leeds, conference paper, undated but after 2011). This issue of the the defenestration of retired academics was given prominence by an influential survey of Retirees' views by Barbara Tizard widely reported in 2000-04.
Access to journal articles by a substantial proportion of the UK population is severely limited, especially by those who cannot afford the exhorbitant rate of downloading one-off articles. The problem is writ large in terms of equity worldwide.
Whilst most UK research councils (for example MRC, Welcome) now require publishing in open access journals and open access is on the increase, many journals still do not have an open access policy.
The cost of such a policy should be born by a charge to institutions for publication in turn funded by research grant funding enhancements.
The contribution of substantial expertise and dedication amongst academic and other retirees in particular is being compromised by this short sighted policy.
(note: all these references can easily be obtained in a Google search by entering Barbara Tizard retirees)
The ability of retirees' ability 'to retain our intellectual, cultural and social capital' (Hartman, 2009) is compromised by the reluctance of university libraries to allow retired staff access away from university sites to e journals (see Paul Armstrong, Univ leeds, conference paper, undated but after 2011). This issue of the the defenestration of retired academics was given prominence by an influential survey of Retirees' views by Barbara Tizard widely reported in 2000-04.
Access to journal articles by a substantial proportion of the UK population is severely limited, especially by those who cannot afford the exhorbitant rate of downloading one-off articles. The problem is writ large in terms of equity worldwide.
Whilst most UK research councils (for example MRC, Welcome) now require publishing in open access journals and open access is on the increase, many journals still do not have an open access policy.
The cost of such a policy should be born by a charge to institutions for publication in turn funded by research grant funding enhancements.
The contribution of substantial expertise and dedication amongst academic and other retirees in particular is being compromised by this short sighted policy.
(note: all these references can easily be obtained in a Google search by entering Barbara Tizard retirees)
