Psyche, Science, and Society

All scientific information on avian flu should be freely available

March 16th, 2006

I just went to Nature to read an editorial [Dreams of flu data] whose description – “the lack of an accessible store of information is undermining the fight against avian flu” — suggests it’s a call for making avian flu genetic sequencing data public. I found, however, that I was unable to access this article because it’s only available to subscribers! This is both ridiculous and unconscionable. If, as I believe, avian flu is a serious enough threat that public access to genetic sequencing should be encouraged, then surely the world’s scientific and medical journals should give free, unrestricted access to all articles on the topic.

Information is a key element of the world’s response to this risk. In addition to scientists, who will largely be able to access these journals, it is critical that the public become as educated as possible. An educated public, actively thinking about the issues, is the only remedy we will have to the panic that will ensue should a human pandemic break out. Surely scientific journals should help inform the public by making this information freely available. It won’t even cost them anything as the people who will read only avian flu articles are not likely to subscribe anyway. Nature, please set an example!

Entry Filed under: Avian flu, Public Health