That $35 that scientific journals charge you to read a paper goes 100% to the publisher, 0% to the authors. If you just email us to ask for our papers, we are allowed to send them to you for free, and we will be genuinely delighted to do so.
Here are some other ways to access paywalled papers: holly.witteman.ca/index.php/2017…
Adding a tweet after many responses like 'I wish I'd known this in undergrad/college': Students usually already have access through the library & librarians are usually more than happy to help people learn how to use the library! Start early because interlibrary loans take time.
I need to mute this thread because I can no longer keep up with the volume of notifications (I'm thrilled by how many people want to read academic papers--you are all awesome!) so I’m leaving a few points of clarification here for reference before I hit mute:
The blog post I posted in the second tweet (holly.witteman.ca/index.php/2017…) lists other methods of access. Though use varies by field, some papers are available in open access journals, in online repositories, and early (non-peer-reviewed) versions are available via preprint.
Use libraries!! If you are a student, use your institution’s library. If you are a patient, ask if your health care setting has a librarian. Libraries & librarians are *fantastic*. Even small public libraries may be able to get access to papers through interlibrary loan.
In many places, a library's funding is tied to how often it is used. This means that by using the library, you are supporting it and keeping those resources available to others in your community.
As noted in the blog post, you can install tools like @unpaywall @OA_Button, which are legal.
Also as noted in the blog post, SciHub also offers access to papers. It is not legal (though it’s arguably moral). My view on SciHub is that it’s important to continue to work to make such easy access fully legal.
The reason most academic authors are delighted to share our papers is because it’s our job to create and share knowledge! Not everyone will respond this way, but it is common to share happily.
When you publish in a paywalled journal, you sign copyright over to the publisher in a copyright transfer agreement. These agreements often allow sharing individually, though of course there are exceptions.
Many authors have already been paid to publish the paper. For authors who are university professors and/or scientists in research institutes, we already get a salary for doing our job, including publishing papers.
Unfortunately, not all authors have salaried jobs. (Please support/encourage institutions to offer more stable, livable employment to faculty and more stable, livable funding to students.)
Peer reviewers are typically not paid by the publishers. Reviewers who have jobs as professors/scientists are expected to do peer review as part of our jobs, for which we are paid by our institutions.
Publishers/journals offer a valuable service, and their staff should be paid. However, profit margins at large publishers are already high, and subscription fees (the costs charged to libraries and individual subscribers) keep going up. In my view, the system is out of balance.
As a health researcher, I think it's especially important that people can access scientific evidence relevant to their health.
Lots of published science was funded by grants from public research funding agencies. The public has already paid for the work. In my view, members of the public should have access to the work they funded. (Many funders now require this, immediately or within 12 months.)
If you appreciate having science & research in the public interest, please support public institutions like your country's funding agencies and universities. Tell your elected representative. If you are in Canada, please consider following @E4Dca. Wishing everyone happy reading!
