Gold Fever: Read and Weep

[Stevan Harnad <amsciforum@gmail.com>]

** Apologies for cross-posting **

Those who still harbor any doubt that the mixing of talk about 
Gold OA publishing or funding with plans for Green OA 
self-archiving mandates 
<http://www.eprints.org/openaccess/policysignup/> causes anything 
but confusion, distraction, delay and failure to make progress 
toward universal OA: Please read Peter Suber's comments 
<http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/2009/04/faculty-votes-against-oa-policy-at.html> 
on this this latest fiasco at the University of Maryland 
<http://media.www.diamondbackonline.com/media/storage/paper873/news/2009/04/24/News/Faculty.Sens.Battle.Over.Open.Access-3725200.shtml> 
-- and weep.

And then please trust some sound advice from a weary and wizened 
but world-wise archivangelist:

*Disentangle completely all talk and policy concerning the 
requirement to self-archive refereed journal articles (the Green 
OA mandate) from any advice concerning whether or not to publish 
in Gold OA journals, and from any plans to help authors pay for 
Gold OA journal publishing charges, should they elect to publish 
in a fee-based Gold OA journal.*

Otherwise this mindless and thoughtless Gold Fever 
<http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/563-guid.html> 
will just usher in yet another half-decade of failure to reach 
for what is already fully within the global research community's 
grasp: universal Green OA through universal Green OA 
self-archiving mandates adopted by universities and research 
funders worldwide.

*Stevan Harnad <http://www.eprints.org/openaccess/>*

American Scientist Open Access Forum
<http://amsci-forum.amsci.org/archives/American-Scientist-Open-Access-Forum.html>