Open data: an open debate?
The way science is communicated is changing fast, super-fast. Only a few years ago, scientists would access research within their field of interest, by reading published papers, accessed through subscriptions to journals. Recall that then, all was printed in paper (and black and white) and bounded in issues and volumes which were mailed (snail-mailed) to paying subscribers. In the larger universities and wealthier countries, libraries hosted most major journals and had agreements in place with other libraries to access works they did not harbor themselves. To access a paper, you just needed to walk into the library or ask the librarian for help. In the Global South (gee… I hate this term!) there were already in place, some basic loopholes. We knew some colleague or research groups (abroad for instance, but not exclusively) to whom we would write and would kindly ask to photocopy (and fax?) that critical paper they had and that we had found by spending hours going through Current