Some Anthropologists Continue the Slow Push Toward Open Access

by E Wayne Ross on February 15, 2008

The Chronicle: Some Anthropologists Continue the Slow Push Toward Open Access

When the American Anthropological Association announced in September that it would move its publishing apparatus from the University of California Press to Wiley-Blackwell, anthropology blogs and e-mail lists buzzed with discontent. Some advocates of open-access publishing complained that moving to a for-profit publisher seemed like a step backward. And the switch would almost certainly mean higher prices for libraries, they said, which might spark a decline in subscriptions.

“What good is the AAA to its members if its primary goal is survival, rather than the promotion and dissemination of our research?” asked Christopher M. Kelty, an assistant professor of anthropology at Rice University, on the group blog Savage Minds, when the deal was announced.