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Pirate open access as electronic civil disobedience: Is it ethical to breach the paywalls of monetized academic publishing?

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  • Jack E. James

Abstract

Open access has long been an ideal of academic publishing. Yet, contrary to initial expectations, cost of access to published scientific knowledge increased following the advent of the Internet and electronic processing. An analysis of the ethicality of current arrangements in academic publishing shows that monetization and the sequestering of scientific knowledge behind paywalls breach the principle of fairness and damage public interest. Following decades of failed effort to redress the situation, there are ethical grounds for consumers of scientific knowledge to invoke the right of collective civil disobedience, including support for pirate open access. Could this be the best option available to consumers of scientific knowledge for removing paywalls to knowledge that rightly belongs in the public domain?

Suggested Citation

  • Jack E. James, 2020. "Pirate open access as electronic civil disobedience: Is it ethical to breach the paywalls of monetized academic publishing?," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 71(12), pages 1500-1504, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jinfst:v:71:y:2020:i:12:p:1500-1504
    DOI: 10.1002/asi.24351
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Vincent Larivière & Stefanie Haustein & Philippe Mongeon, 2015. "The Oligopoly of Academic Publishers in the Digital Era," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-15, June.
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    1. Kilian Buehling & Matthias Geissler & Dorothea Strecker, 2022. "Free access to scientific literature and its influence on the publishing activity in developing countries: The effect of Sci‐Hub in the field of mathematics," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 73(9), pages 1336-1355, September.
    2. Yu Geng & Renmeng Cao & Xiaopu Han & Wencan Tian & Guangyao Zhang & Xianwen Wang, 2022. "Scientists are working overtime: when do scientists download scientific papers?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(11), pages 6413-6429, November.

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