Shower Thoughts

intellectual property laws are a double edged sword.

they are crucial for protecting artists and creators, but make no sense when it comes to sharing knowledge, research papers, articles etc which are often stuck behind a paywall.

i do wonder if blockchain could somehow be a solution to this, but mostly it’s about changing entrenched social/legal norms.

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A lot of the times you can just email the original authors and they will give you a copy for free. 

Authors don't get paid for publishing this so they don't have an interest in gatekeeping knowledge they've already published.

true !! love that the authors themselves are usually so open and happy to share their work; it's usually the platforms that gatekeep and paywall 😔

A teller / of stories, that is me. / Curious to learn new ways to see. / Proud dad of two. Now, what / about you? | Builds https://paragraph.xyz/@trpplffct

I think it's a combination. When you have a field in which there are multiple scientists at your institution, it might be just an ask to the other desk, but I think I prefer a paper to be peer-reviewed by scientists from other institutions (in other countries), to avoid conflict of interests. People being paid by the same 'master', or maybe vying for the same position within the organisation at the next promotion round... 
When I was in publishing school, this was one of the things we learned about: the added value of organising and unlocking.

ohh is it the platforms that set up the peer reviews? when my friend was asked to peer review an essay, she was just contacted by one of her university colleagues haha. she wasn't paid for it either, which I found a bit surprising, but that's another topic loool

To be a bit fair to these platforms, they do a lot of work organising the peer reviews etcetera. But, yes, the production, distribution and marketing is much less than it used to be. So, there is a legacy in the costs that is no longer justified.