Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2012-07-16]: The UK government is to develop plans to make publicly funded research results freely available to all. Currently, scientists and members of the public have to pay the leading scientific journals to see research that has already been paid for from the public purse. Under new proposals the government will pay publishers a fee each time a paper is published. In return the research will be available to those who wish to see it [source: BBC News]. The total cost of the subsidy is estimated to be £50m a year which will be taken from funds that would otherwise have been spent on research. Giving millions to have the public reading scientific papers, while they could give those millions to conduct research? Too good to be true? Don’t be naive - think twice: the best propaganda is the one which cannot be seen as a propaganda! And what is better than something “free”? After all, they said it themselves: “It [refers to the abovementioned idea of free papers] will allow academics and businesses to develop and commercialise their research more easily and herald a new era of academic discovery”… Beware of those bearing gifts! True knowledge is never “free” (and I do not refer to money) !!! [see Should knowledge be free and accessible? No. It cannot!](c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective...
