---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 13:53:57 -0400
From: Rick Anderson <Rick_Anderson@UNCG.EDU>
Subject: Re: Authors "Victorious" in UnCover Copyright Suit (Stevan Harnad)

> (But the reason researchers, unlike journalists, give away
> their papers, is not primarily that their salaries are
> influenced by impact, but that they are reporting their
> research for its impact on future research and
> fellow-researchers, not to make money on the sale of
> those research reports [which are more like ads than
> anything else, functionally speaking].)

I'm not sure that professional altruism is the best
explanation for the writing behavior of researchers.  The
fact is that researchers and academics are being paid to
write.  Not paid by the piece, usually, but paid a salary
to perform duties that include writing.  Even if you
discount (correctly, I think) the possibility of getting a
raise based on a high-impact article, the fact is that most
academics and researchers have to write because it's what
they're paid to do.

--------
Rick Anderson
Head Acquisitions Librarian
Jackson Library
UNC Greensboro
(336) 334-5281
rick_anderson@uncg.edu

"Because somebody is wrong
about something does not mean
that nobody can be right about
anything."
          -- Terry Teachout