Journals are a for-profit business, and for a long time, they hoarded their publications. As a member of an academic institution undergoing educational training, this isn't too much of a barrier. Through a Stanford-wide site license, I can access most large journals, download those articles I need, and not worry about purchasing copies. But for a community physician, scientist, or layperson, it's not easy getting access to journals. Purchasing a single article is expensive, and big publishers are enforcing their copyrights. They even ask the original scientists who did the study to take down copies from their websites. Yet having access to that medical and scientific information is a necessity. I download articles to build a library of groundbreaking medical studies, read new publications to see how anesthesia is changing, and peruse scientific studies and methodologies to understand directions in research.
In response to this "silo-ing" of information, new open access journals have popped up. They don't require readers to purchase articles and make their publications available to the public. Unfortunately, they are not usually as highly regarded as the journals that have always been around. But this clash has raised a question in my head: although copyrights may be an important legal and financial concept, there may be a moral and scientific imperative for open access to medical studies. If technology is hoarded, how we can expect scientists to work at the breaking edge of new research? If medical studies need to be purchased, how can we expect doctors always to be up-to-date? If most research is funded by the National Institutes of Health and taxpayer dollars, then why are the conclusions of that research property of these large journals? If patients volunteer for clinical trials, then don't they expect those trials to be completely available for the biggest health impact? When we talk about medical studies, we aren't talking about a new best-seller or blockbuster being leaked and downloaded. We're talking about government-funded research, public health, and the treatment of individual patients.
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In ancient Greece, the asclepion was a healing temple dedicated to Asclepius, the God of Medicine. Asclepius learned the art of surgery from the centaur Chiron and had the ability to raise the dead. The Rod of Asclepius is a roughhewn branch entwined with a single serpent.
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Hi! I am Craig Chen, a third year resident physician in anesthesiology at Stanford Hospitals and Clinics. I went to medical school at the University of California, San Francisco. Prior to medical school, I studied philosophy and biology at Stanford University, along with a minor in creative writing.
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The author of the site does not provide any medical advice and information here should not be construed or used as such. Using this site does not create a physician-patient relationship and is not intended to replace the services of a licensed, trained physician or health professional. No health or medical related decision should be based in whole or in part on anything contained here. Any opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of the author nor do they reflect the opinions of any of the author's affiliations. Content on this site may be changed without notice and is not guaranteed to be complete, correct, or up-to-date. Any comments posted to the site can be edited, modified, or removed by the author of this site.
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