Andrew Marks is a Columbia University biologist and editor of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. When he's not in the lab or editorial office, he works to thwart the politically motivated boycott of Israeli scientists. In a recent interview, he described this work in a way that shows its connection to the open access movement: "Academic freedom and preserving open access to scientific information is a universal issue. The concept of excluding a specific group - in this case Israelis - based on politics potentially leads to very dangerous endpoints. The open exchange of ideas is fundamental to biomedical research and the advancement of learning and fighting human diseases. Who decides whether someone's political viewpoints are acceptable in the scientific world? Politics simply cannot be used as a litmus test for who can and cannot pursue scientific research."
Posted by
Peter Suber at 9/06/2003 02:22:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
