Brandy Coats/HIGHLANDER
Brandy Coats/HIGHLANDER

Now that Heat has concluded, we UCR students are coming down from our Porter Robinson-induced highs and settling back down into the mundane realities of UCR life. For us, this means that it is almost the end of winter quarter, with only a couple of weeks standing in between us and long-awaited Spring Break.

It is this time of the quarter when research for final projects begins in earnest. The libraries swell with students seeking to read through the research journals housed within, and the computer stations become occupied as people virtually leaf through the pages of research documents.

Access to academic journals without paying exorbitant entry fees is one of the perks of being a student at UCR. The college, after all, spends more than $3 million every year to ensure that students and professors have access to the most cutting-edge research in the world.

We students are thankful for this vast wealth of knowledge. But shouldn’t it be free for everyone, not just students who happen to have the good fortune to attend UCR?

Right now, JSTOR, Ebsco, Springer and numerous other online journal subscription sites charge unreasonably high fees to access important information. It is true that some sites are pioneering availability for the masses—JSTOR has made 77 journals freely available for individuals online. And numerous journal articles that lie in the public domain are also free for whoever wants to access them.

But the vast majority of research still lies in the shadow of a financial iron curtain that towers over the Internet. While the cost of an individual article varies, one 12-page paper on childhood autism costs $38—and at least another 200 articles on that subject are unavailable for individuals. Any concerned parents with an autistic child will understandably want to know more about such a condition. But for even cursory research, the vast majority of information on the topic is unavailable, or jarringly expensive at best.

The topics covered in the research may not even be up to date. The American Educational Research Association (AERA), in partnership with JSTOR, breathlessly announced it would provide access to its virtual libraries for only $40 a year for registered members.

The problem? As the AERA itself writes, “Journals in JSTOR have ‘moving walls’ that define the time lag between the most current issue published and the content available in JSTOR.” For the AERA, this lag between the publication of the article and its availability in JSTOR is three years long. People who do pony up the 40 greenbacks in 2013 will find themselves stuck in 2010.

This policy does not take into account that research is time-sensitive. Unlike a novel that can be published once and is enshrined for all eternity, research is constantly changing. Research from three years ago does not include scientific breakthroughs in the here and now. The journals from 1966 are useless when giving context to Neil Armstrong’s “giant leap for mankind” as he took his first small step on the moon.

By forcing users to pay for access to journals that aren’t even relevant anymore, JSTOR and other distributors of online research are essentially holding everyone in an intellectual vise grip. Knowledge is the oxygen that keeps the community body moving. Without it, how does the homeowner know if his or her house contains asbestos? How does the commuter know why gasoline is expensive? How does the student know if the college they are attending is using their tuition effectively?

The information produced by research should be available to everyone because it is beneficial to everyone. Every year, JSTOR turns away 150 million requests for access to articles—from people who only want to be more informed. By limiting access to crucial information, JSTOR and others are asphyxiating the public, content simply to allow us to writhe on the ground like fish out of water.

It is time to take advantage of the Internet and pump oxygen back into our limp body by instituting a new open-access model. The White House has pledged to make taxpayer-funded research publicly available within a year after publication, most likely online. And if no less than the United States government can put its research online, why can’t we put all research online, available to everyone?

Imagine that instead of studies being submitted to a journal, they could be sent to an online database. The foremost experts in the field would be called upon to review the material and engage in the process of peer review to iron out any potential errors in the document. It could be cross-checked with other studies—also in the database—that discuss the same topic. And in the end, after all the back-and-forth is done, it would be posted online and available for the global community to access it free of charge.

As a new startup that challenges the status quo of commercialized information, it will inevitably incite attacks on its credibility. But if it is managed properly, and knowledgeable, well-known experts are continually able to contribute to such a project, those baseless attacks will eventually fade away into oblivion and it will gain the respect of people and researchers around the world.

Even more importantly, an Internet-based publishing repository would be feasible because it is able to eliminate many of the publishing costs that would otherwise keep costs for consumers high. Text on the Internet does not have to go through a printing press to be spread to the masses. With the creation of an open-source database, the research can simply be uploaded there. The services that journal publications used to provide are no longer necessary.

Pardon the use of a cliché, but knowledge is power. And right now, JSTOR and the online journal subscription companies are ensuring that people are powerless. This shouldn’t be the case in the 21st century, where tweets can help topple a dictatorial regime in Egypt and 1 billion people can talk to one another through Facebook.

It is time that research is made available to everybody and not restricted to a few people relaxing in their ivory towers. Let’s use the full power of the Internet to make it happen.