Higher Education and academic research

If this summer’s Royal Society report arguing for a more open practice of science in public policy and business wasn’t convincing enough then the satirical science website PhD (Piled Higher and Deeper) comics, by Panamanian cartoonist Jorge Cham, may change your mind, as it illustrates one researcher’s change of heart when faced with a life and death situation. The film is a digestible eight-minute animation of the problematic scientific publishing landscape and how open access, the free and immediate online availability of research articles with full re-use rights, can add value.

The animation was made as part of Open Access Week between 22 and 28 October 2012. Jorge Cham interviewed Nick Shockey, director of student advocacy at the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), and Jonathan Eisen, professor at the University of California Davis, US. (...) - by Adrian Giordani, November 14, 2012, iSGTW