Michael Eisen’s goal is to change the way scientific findings are disseminated. Most research papers today are locked behind paywalls, and access can cost hundreds of dollars per article. The general public, and most scientists, don’t have comprehensive access to the most up-to-date research, even though much of it is funded by U.S. taxpayers.
“It’s a completely ridiculous system,” says Eisen, an acclaimed biologist at UC Berkeley, an independent candidate for Senate in California running against Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D), and a co-founder of the Public Library of Science, or PLOS, which publishes some of the largest and most prestigious academic journals in the world. These publications stand out for another reason: They’re open access, meaning that anyone with an internet connection can read them for free.
PLOS seeks to break up the academic publishing cartel, and it’s a leading force in the so-called open science movement, which aims to give the public access to cutting-edge research and democratize scientific progress.
Click here for full text, a transcript, and downloadable versions.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/2As1LQS
via IFTTT