Ethics of open access to biomedical research: Just a special case of ethics of open access to research

<p>Abstract</p> <p>The ethical case for Open Access (OA) (free online access) to research findings is especially salient when it is public health that is being compromised by needless access restrictions. But the ethical imperative for OA is far more general: It applies to all scie...

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Main Author: Harnad Stevan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2007-12-01
Series:Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine
Online Access:http://www.peh-med.com/content/2/1/31
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author Harnad Stevan
author_facet Harnad Stevan
author_sort Harnad Stevan
collection DOAJ
description <p>Abstract</p> <p>The ethical case for Open Access (OA) (free online access) to research findings is especially salient when it is public health that is being compromised by needless access restrictions. But the ethical imperative for OA is far more general: It applies to all scientific and scholarly research findings published in peer-reviewed journals. And peer-to-peer access is far more important than direct public access. Most research is funded so as to be conducted and published, by researchers, in order to be taken up, used, and built upon in further research and applications, again by researchers (pure and applied, including practitioners), for the benefit of the public that funded it – not in order to generate revenue for the peer-reviewed journal publishing industry (nor even because there is a burning public desire to read much of it). Hence OA needs to be mandated, by researchers' institutions and funders, for all research.</p>
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spelling doaj.art-7613384a3e06410995a40e864eef0cb52022-12-21T19:58:55ZengBMCPhilosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine1747-53412007-12-01213110.1186/1747-5341-2-31Ethics of open access to biomedical research: Just a special case of ethics of open access to researchHarnad Stevan<p>Abstract</p> <p>The ethical case for Open Access (OA) (free online access) to research findings is especially salient when it is public health that is being compromised by needless access restrictions. But the ethical imperative for OA is far more general: It applies to all scientific and scholarly research findings published in peer-reviewed journals. And peer-to-peer access is far more important than direct public access. Most research is funded so as to be conducted and published, by researchers, in order to be taken up, used, and built upon in further research and applications, again by researchers (pure and applied, including practitioners), for the benefit of the public that funded it – not in order to generate revenue for the peer-reviewed journal publishing industry (nor even because there is a burning public desire to read much of it). Hence OA needs to be mandated, by researchers' institutions and funders, for all research.</p>http://www.peh-med.com/content/2/1/31
spellingShingle Harnad Stevan
Ethics of open access to biomedical research: Just a special case of ethics of open access to research
Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine
title Ethics of open access to biomedical research: Just a special case of ethics of open access to research
title_full Ethics of open access to biomedical research: Just a special case of ethics of open access to research
title_fullStr Ethics of open access to biomedical research: Just a special case of ethics of open access to research
title_full_unstemmed Ethics of open access to biomedical research: Just a special case of ethics of open access to research
title_short Ethics of open access to biomedical research: Just a special case of ethics of open access to research
title_sort ethics of open access to biomedical research just a special case of ethics of open access to research
url http://www.peh-med.com/content/2/1/31
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