[Sigiii-l] Fwd: Hinari in SciDev.Net Weekly Update (7 - 13 February 2011)

[Barry Mahon]

On 14/02/2011 17:08, M.J. Menou wrote:
>> HINARI and the dream of free journal access
>>

>> A dispute over the HINARI scheme, which gives poor countries free
>   >  access to journals, has exposed the sensitive border between aid and
>   >  commerce, finds Yojana Sharma.
>
>   >
> http://www.scidev.net/en/features/hinari-and-the-dream-of-free-journal-access.html

A long time ago I questioned this so called deal. It was a laudable idea 
but the WHO was anxious to raise their profile and were supported by 
certain rather histrionic anti-publisher individuals, so they went ahead 
with an 'arrangement' - as is pointed out in the article (a good 
article, btw) - rather than an agreement. The result was probably 
predictable, as the market in the rich countries shrinks, the revenues 
need to be maintained.

The wider question is whether the present structure of STM publishing 
can be maintained as OA in its various forms gains traction. The SOAP 
study by the EU indicates that academics like the OA idea but want to be 
published in (mostly commercial) high profile journals.

Bye, Barry