The infographic that I created above highlights some of the problems that pay to read journal articles have caused. These issues created a need for open access to ensure the spread of information. Every student at the University of Southampton opens and reads online articles in order to support their studies. Without access to these articles, how would our studies suffer? I can only imagine that my own essays would not include the depth and debate that I am able to achieve from reading other peoples research in similar fields. Whilst slightly ironic, without open access I would not have been able to read the articles that I did to write this blog post.
“Without openness across global digital networks, it is doubtful that large and complex problems in areas such as economics, climate change and health can be solved” (Hall, M 2014). This statement taken from a Guardian article really emphasizes the need for open access. There are many major issues in our world right now that currently we do not have a solution for. However, due to the scale of these issues there are so many researchers and students right now working to diminish them. Privatising research papers on these topics eliminates the potential for other researchers to find trends and links to their own work. Although quite dramatic, what if the combination of these research papers that we cannot access, actually gives us a cure for cancer as an example? This is also supported in a Youtube video that says that science is about sharing your knowledge and discoveries to benefit others. How is this possible when you are unable to access the journal that these discoveries are included in?
As mentioned in the video above, open access is necessary if we want equal educational opportunities around the globe. Linking back to my post on the digital divide last week, open access is one step that could close the gap between low income families and higher earners. Students will be able to access the exact same information, regardless of their financial situations. This could be a great step to reducing the challenges faced by students that come from low income families that are unable to purchase journal articles.
If perhaps there was a way of ensuring the quality of open access articles in the same way that the most expensive journal is considered to be the best quality, then I strongly believe that the advantages of open access in every sense outweigh the disadvantages.
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