Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Paywalls are slowing cures for cancer

Plus more health news |

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It's time to take down journal paywalls for cancer research
By Oliver Staley
Health Editor

Research is the lifeblood of science, and academic journals are its circulatory system: they’re a critical mechanism for the dissemination of new knowledge. But what happens if journals place research out of reach?

That effectively is what happens when journals erect costly paywalls, argues Julia Kostova, the director of publishing at Frontiers, an academic publishing company, in an essay for TIME. Scientific journals are a big business, grossing $27 billion annually, and they have incentive to make accessing their content expensive. But as proven during the COVID-19 pandemic, when vaccine and treatment research was made freely available, there is another way.

To accelerate critical progress towards cures, journals should let down their paywalls for research into cancer and other life threatening diseases, Kostova writes. That holds especially true for research funded by taxpayer dollars; we shouldn’t have to pay to read for the research we’ve already paid for.

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ONE LAST READ
The importance of cousin-hood

As families shrink and have fewer children, there is an unnoticed side effect: fewer cousins. That's a shame, argues Faith Hill in the Atlantic, because cousins can offer interesting and uncomplicated kinds of relationships. There is little obligation attached to being a cousin, so time spent with together is freely given, and can be more rewarding as a result.

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Today's newsletter was written by Oliver Staley and edited by Elijah Wolfson and Oliver.

 
 
 
 
 
 

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