The aim of the Cabinet Office edict was to stop NGOs from lobbying politicians and Whitehall departments using the government’s own funds. The effect, say senior scientists, campaigners and research groups, will be to muzzle scientists from speaking out on important issues. The government move is a straightforward assault on academic freedom, they argue.
These critics highlight examples such as those of sociologists whose government-funded research shows new housing regulations are proving particularly damaging to the homeless; ecologists who discover new planning laws are harming wildlife; or climate scientists whose findings undermine government energy policy. All would be prevented from speaking out under the new grant scheme as it stands.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/17/britains-scientists-must-not-be-gagged?CMP=share_btn_tw
By all means, they shouldn't be gagged. But if British Scientists are supported by public funds, they should also always be observant of FOIA regulations and their working papers should all be open to the public also.
ReplyDeleteJordan Henderson You may have just been gagged. :)
ReplyDeleteRhys Taylor Heh, edit issue. corrected...
ReplyDeleteJordan Henderson Well, I agree. I'd even go further and say that the entire peer review process should be public as well.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason none of the astronomy journals seem to give a damn about copyright and even encourage authors to put a pre-print on arXiv, where it's freely available to everyone. OK, the arXiv versions are minutely different from the official publications, but they contain all the same information. Why other fields are more protective I don't know. They can't possibly make any significant money from the handful of people crazy enough to pay for access to individual articles.