Essay #1: Publicly funded research

Completed in: ~ 5 hours

"All results of publicly funded scientific studies should be made available to the general public free of charge. Scientific journals that charge a subscription or newsstand price are profiting unfairly."

The general public should have, and does have, free access to the results of publicly funded scientific research. The journals that currently publish these results and charge for their content are not profiting unfairly. The public has other means of accessing research results at little or no cost.

The general public has a right to know how all public money is spent, including money for scientific research. The information on government spending is available on government websites.  Access to the internet is free of charge at public libraries. A member of the public will need to devote time and energy to locating results of specific scientific studies that he/she may be interested in, and in addition, the results may not be readily understandable to someone without a scientific background. For this reason, it is more efficient for the public to receive information through media outlets.

Scientific journals publish a variety of content. The content may include results of government funded studies as well as results of privately funded studies. Like any publication business, scientific journals need to cover the costs of staff salaries, materials, circulation, etc. Charging a subscription or newsstand price confers value and quality to the publication.  A scientific publication paid for by the government and freely distributed would not be viewed by the public as having value.  It would be costly to the government, whereas private businesses have the incentive to make tailor their product to what readers want, which could include illustrations, interpretations of the study results, competing viewpoints, and other content.  There are journals aimed towards a spectrum of readership, including scientists and laymen. By paying the subscription or newsstand price readers provide an incentive for the publication to create a good product.

Today there are a variety of ways for the public to find results of scientific research paid for by the government.  Federal websites provide information on how much is spent on scientific research and which agencies or scientific institutions are carrying out the work. Those agencies in turn, are required to be transparent about whether their research is funded by the government. The general public has free access to these research results. Scientific journals who include these results and charge for content and not abusing the public, but rather presenting information, as all publications do, in a way that results in the optimum sales figures. The journals have the incentive to present all scientific study results, regardless of how the research is funded, in the optimal way for their targeted readership.