From the inbox:
Below is information about articles being published in the April 19 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The information is not intended to substitute for the full articles as sources of information. Annals of Internal Medicine attribution is required for all coverage
This is off to an excellent start – I’m in favor of reading and linking to primary sources whenever possible, and I’m thrilled to see that a journal is encouraging journalists to do that before they even click on the press release link. I’m ready to give their PR office an A-plus.
Then things go pear-shape. When I actually try to read the full paper, I only get this far:
This item requires a subscription to Annals of Internal Medicine.
Make that a D-minus.
I’d like to see full access and even as an outsider to the research and academic communities can appreciate the need for credit and recognition for work done, but isn’t this the same problem we have with ‘monetizing’ web applications, proponents of open vs closed software, shareware, and patenting genes which sort of defines a basic human need for control that some of us have and others don’t. I’d love to hear you, Russ Roberts (Econtalk) and Ray Kurzweil and Dr Racaniello discuss this in a podcast.