Harvard to Grant Free, Online Access to Some Research

The public at large is about to get free access to research coming from arts and science professors at Harvard University. According to an article in Inside Higher Ed, the faculty has approved a plan that will allow the professors to post their academic papers online.

The story quotes Robert Darton, the director of the university’s library. In a recent op-ed for the Harvard Crimson, he writes, "In place of a closed, privileged, and costly system, it will help open up the world of learning to everyone who wants to learn … ideas would flow freely in all directions.”

Inside Higher Ed notes that one factor behind the move is the increasing price of journal subscriptions that often force libraries to limit student access to scholarly publications. The database, as yet untitled, “could send a signal that a standard bearer in higher education is seriously looking at alternative distribution models for its faculty’s scholarship.”

Critics, however, argue that the system allows professors to publish without undergoing peer review or criticism from the academic community.

Though some schools have implemented similar programs, Harvard's system would make online publishing the default; Professors would have to choose to opt-out of the program if they didn't want their paper published online. Also, with the name "Harvard" tagged on to the plan, it seems likely that the concept will make a splash in the world of academia, and perhaps change the way American universities think about the way we access information.

(Photo by Nick Zadrozny)