Education and Open Access

While most Universities around the U.S. contain a plethora of scientific journals freely available to their students, the vast majority of U.S. public high schools do not. While some (those students uninterested in research pursuits) are not directly impacted by this problem, many student researchers feel the squeeze of being limited to a small fraction of the vast scientific body of knowledge.

In fact, this issue extends beyond those high school students engaged in research. Many instructors assign their pupils research reports that must cite published papers. Being directed to a payment page after reading an exciting abstract can be a very frustrating experience for a pre-college student, or any person in general for that matter. This frustration may even turn some students off from scientific research in general, especially if their only experiences with it have involved pulling out their hair.

In other words, the lack of OA has far reaching consequences, extending far beyond the relatively limited scope of academia. In order to continue scientific advances, young budding researchers must be exhilarated and enthralled by science, not annoyed and frustrated by its pecuniary red tape.

Nathan