The document discusses the author's experience with open access academic publishing. It describes journals he helped create that were peer-reviewed and freely accessible online. While open access is beneficial, some researchers face issues getting papers published or risk plagiarism if sensitive ideas are shared prematurely. The author recommends addressing this by compiling extensive work into books, which he has done by publishing the first of three planned books on philosophy and the origin of the universe. Publishing books can better protect intellectual property while still providing open access to research.
1. ABED PEERALLY FAAS, FTWAS
OPEN ACCESS
A WORLD REALITY
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
AND VIEWS
2. INITIAL EXPERIENCE
• THE UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS JOURNAL CREATED BY ME IN 1998,
WHEN I WAS PRO-VICE CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS
• A PEER REVIEWED INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, WITH AN
INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD, COMPRISING EMINENT
ACADEMICS INCLUDING FRS AND A FEW NOBEL LAUREATES
• THERE WERE THREE SEPARATE JOURNALS IN SCIENCE, LAW,
MANAGEMENT AND SOCIOLOGY, AND TECHNOLOGY
• IT WAS INITIALLY AVAILABLE IN PRINT, MEANT FOR FREE
DISTRIBUTION, AND BECAME FULLY FREE ACCESS ONLINE IN 2001.
3. The University of Mauritius Research Journal is an international, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, dedicated to
make accessible the latest results of researchers from a broad sweep of subject areas. The UOM Research
Journal accepts original articles, reviews of existing knowledge, short communications which have not been
previously published. The articles should be written in English except for fields related to French language.
Papers can be submitted at any time and will be published online in the UOM Research Journal once it has
been accepted for publication by the International Editorial Board.
Other websites related to the journal: http://vcampus.uom.ac.mu/rci/resjournal/index.php
4. University of Mauritius Research Journal:
Submissions
Journal Home > About the Journal > University of Mauritius Research Journal: Submissions
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JOURNAL HOME
5. ADVANTAGES OF FREE ACCESS JOURNALS
• MAKES ALL RESEARCH RESULTS AVAILABLE TO THE WORLD
• EASILY ACCESSIBLE
• IMPORTANT IMPACT ON FURTHERING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
• EASES EXPERIENCE OF RESEARCHERS IN LOW INCOME COUNTRIES IN
CONDUCTING RESEARCH
• USERS MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR PUBLICATION
• ACCESSING PUBLICATIONS SHOULD BE FREE
6. SOME PROBLEMS WITH PUBLISHING RESEARCH
• SOME RESEARCHERS CANNOT GET THEIR PAPERS PUBLISHED BY
NUMEROUS JOURNALS, DUE TO POLITICS OR TO SNAGS OF FINDING
APPROPRIATE REFEREES: USUALLY AN ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUE
• THERE ARE JOURNALS WHICH REJECT GOOD TO VERY GOOD PAPERS,
OR DO NOT WISH TO PUBLISH THEM FOR FLIMSY REASONS: E.G. NOT
INTERESTING ENOUGH.
• IN FACT, THESE PAPERS MIGHT BE BASICALLY NEW CONCEPTS WHICH
APPEAR TO CONTRADICT VIEWS OF SOME WELL KNOWN
RESEARCHERS, ALTHOUGH THESE VIEWS ARE DUBIOUS OR NON-
SCIENTIFIC.
7. SOME SOLUTIONS
GREEN FREE ACCESS REPOSITORIES
• ARXIV: IT HAS RULES AND REGULATIONS, FOR INSTANCE PROOF OF
HAVING PUBLISHED PREVIOUS PAPERS IN THE DOMAIN OF THE
SUBMISSION
• VIXRA: ACCEPTS WITHOUT RESTRICTION, E.G. PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
IN THE DOMAIN OF SUBMISSION.
• ACADEMIA.EDU: ACCEPTS PAPERS WITHOUT RESTRICTION
• SOME PAPERS OF MINE PUBLISHED IN VIXRA AND ACADEMIA.EDU
8. MY INFLATIONARY EPOCH PAPER
• SCIENCE JOURNAL FOUND IT AN ACCEPTABLE EXPLANATION, BUT DID
NOT PUBLISH IT FOR IT WAS NOT INTERESTING: THE PAPER IS THE
REAL EXPLANATION OF HOW THE INITIAL EXPONENTIAL
INFLATIONARY EPOCH ARISES NATURALLY FROM EINSTEIN SPECIAL
RELATIVITY
• THE PAPER CONTRADICTS WELL KNOWN THEORY OF GUTH AND
OTHERS WHICH RELIES ON UNSUPPORTED REASONING, ALTHOUGH
PUBLISHED DECADES BACK.
• MY PAPER WAS PUBLISHED IN VIXRA AND ACADEMIA.EDU AND HAS
BEEN INDEPENDENTLY DOWNLOADED MORE THAN A HUNDRED
TIMES
9. MY PAPER ON THEORY OF EVERYTHING
• THIS PAPER OF 22 PAGES SAYS THE FOLLOWING:
• THEORY OF EVERYTHING= PHILOSOPHY OF EVERYTHING + PHYSICS OF
EVERYTHING
• PUBLISHED IN MAY 2016 ON VIXRA AND ACADEMIA.EDU
• HAS BEEN INDEPENDENTLY DOWNLOADED FROM VIXRA ALONE AT
LEAST 150 TIMES IN LESS THAN A YEAR
10. WHAT OTHER SOLUTION EXISTS WHEN YOU
HAVE SENSITIVE INFORMATION TO PUBLISH
• YOU HAVE A REAL PROBLEM IF YOU PUBLISH LIABLE TO BE
PLAGIARISED QUITE FAST.
• THIS CAN HAPPEN WHEN ONE OR TWO PRELIMINARY PAPERS COULD
REVEAL A BRIGHT NEW CONCEPT YOU HAVE IN MIND, LEADING TO
THE IDEA BEING PLAGIARISED.
• HOW TO AVOID THIS FATE IS NOT FOUND IN TRADITIONAL VENUES
OF PUBLISHING RESEARCH PAPERS.
11. WHERE IS THE SOLUTION?
• RATHER THAN WRITING SEVERAL PAPERS IN SUCCESSION, COMPILE
YOUR DATA AND INFORMATION EVEN IF IT TAKES YEARS TO DO SO.
• PUBLISH A PRELIMINARY PAPER INFORMING READERS THE BASIC
FACTS THAT A NEW CONCEPT EXISTS TO EXPLAIN A CERTAIN MAJOR
PHENOMENON.
• EVENTUALLY TURN ALL THE DATA AND INFORMATION INTO A BOOK
OR EVEN TWO OR THREE BOOKS.
12. MY OWN EXPERIENCE
• PROPOSED THREE BOOKS ON THE PHILOSOPHY, SCIENCE OF THE
ORIGIN OF OUR UNIVERSE
• FIRST BOOK: IN SEARCH OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE THEORY OF
EVERYTHING: PUBLISHED 20TH APRIL 2017
• SECOND BOOK: THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING EXPECTED 2018
• THIRD BOOK: THE ULTIMATE PHILOSOPHY OF EVERYTHING- 2018
13. OPEN ACCESS THROUGH BOOKS
• OPEN ACCESS OF RESEARCH IS A WORLD REALITY AND HAS BEEN
PARTICULARY BENEFICIAL TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
• HOWEVER THERE IS ALWAYS A DANGER OF ONE’S RESEARH BEING
PLAGIARISED LEADING TO LOSS OF YOUR INTELLECTUAL RIGHTS ON YOUR
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
• IF THE WORK IS SUBSTANTIAL AND MULTIDISCIPLINARY, THEN PUBLISHING
IT IN BOOK FORM IS SUGGESTED AS THE BEST COMPROMISE
• IT IS NOT EXPENSIVE TO PUBLISH A BOOK. AND THE BOOK CULTURE CAN
BE A GREAT EXPERIENCE IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
• PUBLISHING BOOKS IN ACADEMIC LIFE IS ANOTHER FORM OF FREE ACCESS
FOR THE COST OF BUYING A NON-FICTION BOOK IS NOT PROHIBITIVE
14. WHY ANOTHER FORM OF FREE ACCESS?
• A PHYSICAL BOOK IS NOT COSTLIER, PER PAGE, THAN PRINTING A A A
FROM ONLINE MATERIALS
• READING ONLINE BOOKS IS CHEAPER THAN PRINTED BOOKS
• BUT BUYING A BOOK IS CHEAPER THAN PRINTING THE SAME
BOOK FROM ONLINE MATERIALS
• THE ADVANTAGE IS THAT SCIENTIFIC BOOK AUTHORS ARE
BETTER PROTECTED FROM POSSIBLE PLAGIARISM
15. POLICY RECOMMENDATION
• UNIVERSITIES AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS AND COUNCILS
REQUIRE TO FORMALLY ENCOURANGE SCHOLARLY BOOK WRITING
• RESEARCHERS WOULD BENEFIT FROM BEING TRAINED IN THE
METHODOLOGY OF BOOK WRITING, PREPARATION, EDITING AND
PUBLISHING
• POLICIES AND OFFICIAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR SCHOLARLY BOOK
PUBLISHING HAVE TO BE INSTITUTED AS WIDELY IN AFRICA AS
POSSIBLE