Has the internet made it harder for students to access high quality research and journals?
Since the birth of the internet on the 29th of October in 1969, the way in which we use the web has been ever changing. In the early 2000’s, universities began to take advantage of the internet by publishing open and free access to articles and journals, enabling other academics to share their work more easily. Before the internet Scholarly articles were only available in their physical form at the university libraries, making international student access impossible.
However, in recent years there has been much discussion about a turn around, and how it is becoming increasingly difficult to access high quality research, as certain universities have stopped providing open access articles to the public. ‘This month, academic publisher Elsevier shuttered the University of California’s online access to current journal articles. It’s the latest move in the high stakes standoff between Elsevier, the world’s largest publisher of scholarly research, and the University of California,’ (Smith, 2019)
One of the incredible advantages of the internet was the open sharing of information and being able to connect with as many people as possible across the world. Yet evidence such as that produced by Smith, contradicts the view that the internet still enables students to access knowledge as easily as even 5 years ago. The head of the research library at UC Davis stated that ‘I see this development as a harbinger of a tectonic shift in how universities and their faculty share research, build reputations and preserve knowledge in the digital age.’ Before the digital age universities were much more lenient with sharing published work and other academic information, and did so willingly with the desire to teach and learn, to further knowledge.
Another example of how it’s become harder for students to gain access to journals and research is purely financial, with increasing numbers of publishers, universities and other organisations charging a fee to access academic works. Wasn’t the internet meant to supply a multitude of free information? Maybe not when it comes to scholarly articles. ‘We’ve also know that since 2006 that most (75%) conventional or non-open access journals do charge author-side fees, on top of reader-side subscription fees.’ (Suber, 2013) Before the internet it was free to go to the library. Students could physically read journals and research, and even if certain articles or books could not be taken home, they could be photocopied, and students could continue to further their knowledge with little or no cost. Yet now we have a situation where education has become an extra expense. Often, not only are students charged a fee to subscribe to the website, but at times there can be an additional access fee to then see the actual specific journal. The costs to a group of people with limited financial resources does little to help those who are actively trying to seek high quality information, which is of course a disadvantage to all students, whether undergraduate or a mature academic looking to expand their knowledge and research.
In South Africa ‘A survey by the country’s National Research Foundation it was revealed that only 20 of the country’s universities and three of its science councils have Open Access repositories.’ (Kleyn, 2015) Students are once again having to pay to use this research. It’s very possible that this is due to the fact that with the long establishment of the internet, libraries are no longer the students’ first port of call, and online publishers able able take advantage of this commercially.
There is still the argument that the internet has made it easier than ever for students to gain further knowledge about millions of topics in the most convenient way to date, but also it must be noted that the slow withdrawal of free information may be seen as the internet taking steps backwards, thus impeding students’ access to high quality research articles and journals. With ever growing fees, lack of open access articles and certain universities blocking off their knowledge to the greater public, it’s possible that students’ knowledge will be increasingly restricted, and education stifled.
Kleyn, L. (2015). Why it’s getting harder to access free, quality academic research. [online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/why-its-getting-harder-to-access-free-quality-academic-research-49603 [Accessed 16 Oct. 2019].
Smith, M. (2019). University of California’s showdown with the biggest academic publisher aims to change scholarly publishing for good. [online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/university-of-californias-showdown-with-the-biggest-academic-publisher-aims-to-change-scholarly-publishing-for-good-120323 [Accessed 16 Oct. 2019].
Suber, P. (2013). Open access: six myths to put to rest. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/oct/21/open-access-myths-peter-suber-harvard [Accessed 16 Oct. 2019].
