Elsevier Wants to Stop Indian's Accessing Knowledge the Only Way Most Can Afford

People might (and certainly do) not like the arrangement that "publishers" like Elsevier have with the authors of their articles, but it remains a fact that these publishers have legal rights with respect to what they publish.

I believe there is some validity to the argument that citizens of countries that have financially supported the research behind the articles that are published should be ethically (if not legally) entitled to access the findings. To the extent that the Indian government has funded research that results in published articles there is likely an ethical case that the people of India are entitled to the public findings.

I feel there is no ethical case to be made that that they are entitled to the public findings of research subsidized by other nations and no legal argument to strip rights holders of their claims. The argument that "I can't afford it so it is ok to steal it" might sway hearts, but will not stand up to legal scrutiny.

I know that many have very strong feelings about being entitled to these findings so if you disagree, let's have a discussion about it. The question of how to change this arrangement between publisher and author is a great one. I think the real answer will require a change in tenure expectations at research one universities for example.

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