WIKIMEDIA, ALMONROTHSince the beginning of this year, academic publisher Elsevier has been gifting top Wikipedia editors with free accounts to its ScienceDirect platform, which gives users access to the publisher’s extensive catalog of (mostly non open-access) science journals. Last week, Elsevier announced that it has donated 45 such free accounts to Wiki editors, and some open-access advocates are crying foul. Last week (September 10), University of California, Berkeley, geneticist and vocal open-access advocate Michael Eisen tweeted that he was “shocked to see @Wikipedia working hand-in-hand with Elsevier to populate encylopedia w/links people cannot access.”
Eisen, who dubbed the relationship “WikiGate,” later tweeted that Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales should “reconsider accommodating Elsevier’s cynical use of @Wikipedia to advertise paywalled journals,” calling on Wiki editors to instead provide citations to journal articles that are behind paywalls without linking to them.
The agreement, which falls under the Wikipedia Library program, is meant to give Wiki editors increased access to scientific literature that may inform their writing on open-access Wikipedia entries. “The Wikipedia Library team encourages access partnerships between publishers, libraries and other trusted content and data providers,” Elsevier wrote in a statement. “These access programs empower editors to research the topics of Wikipedia articles in order to make corrections and cite authoritative sources, improving the encyclopedia and bringing the best quality information ...
