From: Rick Anderson <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2018 03:58:19 +0000

> Why ask the final two questions? Let me reiterate that publishing is
> part of the research process, and the research process is very heavily
> subsidized.

And let me reiterate that saying “publishing is part of the research
process” doesn’t magically make research funding cover the subsequent
costs of publishing an account of the research. You can redirect
research funding towards the costs of publication (and thus spend less
on the former and more on the latter), but you can’t make one dollar
underwrite both a dollar’s worth of research and a dollar’s worth of
publishing.

> So why not subsidize scientific publishing as well? What
> is wrong with subsidies?

No one said or suggested that there’s anything wrong with subsidies.
My question was intended only to clarify what Toby meant when he said
that OECD’s freemium model “generat(es) sufficient revenues to foot
our bills, pay staff and fund investments.”

>    I also do not see commerce as the paradigmatic foundation of human
>    behaviour.

Does anyone?


    ---
    Rick Anderson
    Assoc. Dean for Collections & Scholarly Communication
    Marriott Library, University of Utah
    Desk: (801) 587-9989
    Cell: (801) 721-1687
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