Open Access and Its EnemiesJ. Britt Holbrook

Assistant DirectorCenter for the Study of InterdisciplinarityResearch Assistant Professor, Philosophy

University of North Texas

britt.holbrook@unt.edu

Futures of Academic Publishing: UNT's 4th Symposium on Open AccessMay 30, 2013, Dallas, TX

The Open Society and Its Enemies

• anti-closed

•anti-totalitarian

• liberty

• liberalism

The Specter of Neoliberalism

Free at Last?

What do we mean by ‘freedom’?

Negative and Positive Freedom

Negative freedom means freedom from ….

Positive freedom means freedom for ….

Emphasizes individual liberty

Sees all limitations on individual liberty as evils, only some of which are necessary

Emphasizes some sort of ‘positive’ account of liberty

Sees some limitations on individual as opportunities to maximize self-determination

‘Open’ Access?

Negative freedom means freedom from ….

Positive freedom means freedom for ….

Whether to publish in OA journal should be up to individual researcher.

OA mandates of any sort are not necessary, just evil!

OA leads to greater impact!

OA mandates will allow researchers to maximize their impactand allow science and society to benefit most from research.

Open Access as a Sociotechnical Imaginary

OA is an attempt to enlist technology to co-produce a future for scholarly communication that we would like to see realized.

Ultimately, OA rests on a positive view of freedom.

Tactically, in order to implement OA …

We should increase our own awareness of – and sensitivity to – instances in which individual liberties are impaired by OA.

We need to realize and take to heart that many researchers – and manymembers of society – have a negative view of freedom.

We also need to find ways to describe OA as getting rid of other waysin which individual liberties are impaired.

Open Access as a Sociotechnical Imaginary

We also need a strategy, a long-term vision and goal, that helps overcome resistance to OA stemming from a negative view of freedom.

We need an account of impact, one that is co-produced by researchers and those we intend to impact.

We also need to introduce a critical spirit into the OA movement, one thatought to replace mere enthusiasm or enthusiasm combined with technologicaldeterminism.

We need to envision a republic of knowledge that includes the value ofnon-domination as a check on positive freedom.

Visions of Impact

Visions of Impact

Visions of Impact

Visions of Impact

What do these numbers actually mean?

Visions of Impact

56 Indicators of ImpactH-index G-index Universal H-index HM-index (standardizes co-authorship) Peer review Place of publication # of pubs # of citations Book sales Article Product downloads Website hits Media mentions Quotes in media Quotes in policy Developing a metric that people use Rabble rousing Muckraking Lawsuits ArrestsCited in testimonialsTown hall meetings

Social networking contacts Increased diversity Degree of ID/TD Degree of transformativity ID/TD rigor CSID advisors Special problem requests with CSID faculty Internationalization Grant $ Audience size @ CSID events Success of faculty fellows Esteem of senior fellows Success of graduate / UG presentations & grants Posters?Impact factor of journals in which CSID publishes Number of Angry letters from important peopleMention by policy makers

Meetings with important ppl Invitations to present Invitations to consult Invitations to evaluate Protests/demonstrations/ sit-ins Coining/debunking phrase or buzzword Trending in social media Esteem surveys Trust/reputation Rankings Blog mentions Student surveys Student testimonials Faculty recommendations Faculty award/prize Textbooks Influencing curriculum creation Participating in public education programs

Thanks!