Re: March issue of the SPARC Open Access Newsletter

From: Stevan Harnad <harnad_at_ecs.soton.ac.uk>
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 2008 19:00:43 +0000

                        ** Cross-Posted **

On Sun, 2 Mar 2008, Peter Suber wrote:

> "My argument in a nutshell is that the [Harvard] policy won't
> need revision if the rate of opt-outs is low and the speed of
> deposits is high."
> http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/newsletter/03-02-08.htm

My question to my closest ally, Peter Suber:

In what respect could that precise same argument, in precisely the same
words, not have been made about the NIH policy of three years ago?

Does it not make sense to immunize the Harvard policy against a similar
failure, instead of waiting to perhaps have to remedy it too, three
years hence, as the failed NIH policy had to be remedied?

Particularly as the simple remedy (a deposit mandate without opt-out)
need merely be added to the current permission mandate with opt-out. Hence
none of the new permission mandate's potential benefits would be lost:
The deposit mandate's compliance rate would simply be added to the
permission mandate's compliance rate.

Is there any independent virtue to embarking on another 3-year experiment
with an untested permission mandate alone, with opt-out, without shoring
it up with an already tried, tested and successful deposit mandate,
without opt-out?

I just don't see how more is learned, or gained, by voluntarily renouncing
a cost-free insurance policy, to see whether an untested permission
mandate with opt-out can go it alone. (Haven't we already been waiting
for OA more than long enough?)

    http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/366-guid.html

Stevan Harnad
AMERICAN SCIENTIST OPEN ACCESS FORUM:
http://amsci-forum.amsci.org/archives/American-Scientist-Open-Access-Forum.h
tml
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/

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Received on Sun Mar 02 2008 - 19:18:32 GMT

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