经济学人334:科技出版业 好书来了

 　　Science and technology

　　科学技术

　　Scientific publishing

　　科技出版业

　　Brought to book

　　好书来了

　　Academic journals face a radical¹ shake-up

　　学术期刊面临彻底改变

　　2_副本.jpg

　　IF THERE is any endeavour whose fruits should be freely available, that endeavour is surely publicly financed science.

　　如果有人试图把成果免费公开的话，那他一定是科学资助者，

　　Morally, taxpayers² who wish to should be able to read about it without further expense.

　　确实，纳税人都希望不再花额外的钱来阅读科学著作，

　　And science advances through cross-fertilisation between projects.

　　并且科学的进步也是通过各个学科之间的相互促进吸收，

　　Barriers to that exchange slow it down.

　　而其间的交流障碍使这种进步慢了下来。

　　There is a widespread feeling that the journal publishers who have mediated³ this exchange for the past century or more are becoming an impediment to it.

　　在过去一个世纪，期刊出版商给人广泛的感觉就是他们调停了这种交流，甚至阻碍了这种交流。

　　One of the latest converts is the British government.

　　而最新的改变发生在英国政府身上，

　　On July 16th it announced that, from 2013, the results of taxpayer-financed research would be available, free and online, for anyone to read and redistribute.

　　它在7月16宣布，从2013年开始，由纳税人资助的科研成果都会在网上免费公开，并且任何人都可以阅读和转发。

　　Britain's government is not alone.

　　并不是只有英国政府这么做，

　　On July 17th the European Union followed suit.

　　17日欧盟也紧随其后，

　　It proposes making research paid for by its next scientific-spending round—which runs from 2014 to 2020, and will hand out about 80 billion, or 100 billion, in grants—similarly easy to get hold of.

　　建议下一个科研经费周期拿出800亿欧元来补贴类似易于获取资料的方法。在美国，

　　In America, the National Institutes of Health has required open-access publishing since 2008.

　　国家卫生研究所从2008年开始就要求开放出版业。

　　And the Wellcome Trust, a British foundation that is the world's second-biggest charitable source of scientific money, after the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, also insists that those who take its shilling make their work available free.

　　仅次于比尔和梅林达盖茨基金会的英国维康信托基金是世界上第二大科研资金获取来源，也坚持—要用我的钱就必须免费公开成果。

　　Criticism of journal publishers usually boils down to two things.

　　而期刊出版商对此的批判常常归结为两件事，

　　One is that their processes take months, when the internet could allow them to take days.

　　一是他们对资料的处理要花费数月，实际上有互联网他们只需要花费数天；

　　The other is that because each paper is like a mini-monopoly, which workers in the field have to read if they are to advance their own research, there is no incentive⁴ to keep the price down.

　　另一个原因就是由于每篇论文就像一个小型垄断，相关领域的工作者想要提升研究水平就必须得阅读那些论文，这样根本没有动机把价格降下来，

　　The publishers thus have scientists—or, more accurately⁵, their universities, which pay the subscriptions—in an armlock.

　　因此出版商就把那些科学家—准确来说是那些付钱订阅期刊的大学牢牢限制住了，

　　That, combined with the fact that the raw material is free, leads to generous returns.

　　再加上原始材料免费这一事实，这些常常为出版商带来了巨额回报。

　　In 2011 Elsevier, a large Dutch publisher, made a profit of 768m on revenues of 2.06 billion—a margin⁶ of 37%.

　　在2011年，荷兰出版商爱思唯尔从20.6亿欧元的投资中获取了7.68亿欧元的回报—利润达到了37%，

　　Indeed, Elsevier's profits are thought so egregious⁷ by many people that 12,000 researchers have signed up to a boycott⁸ of the company's journals.

　　如此高的收益被认为太过分，因此爱思唯尔遭到了12000名研究人员的联名抵制。

　　A golden future?

　　未来一片光明？

　　Publishers do provide a service.

　　出版商也确实做了一些工作，

　　They organise⁹ peer review, in which papers are criticised anonymously¹⁰ by experts. And they sort the scientific sheep from the goats, by deciding what gets published, and where.

　　他们要对论文经行同业互查，并且还要对论文进行分类和挑选，决定是否出版和在哪里出版。

　　That gives the publishers huge power.

　　这就给了出版商很大的权利，

　　Since researchers, administrators¹¹ and grant-awarding bodies all take note of which work has got through this filtering mechanism¹², the competition to publish in the best journals is intense, and the system becomes self-reinforcing, increasing the value of those journals still further.

　　因为研究者、管理员和拨款奖励机构都在注意谁的论文通过了这个过滤机制，在最好的期刊上发表论文的竞争非常激烈，出版系统就变得更加自我强化，也推高了那些期刊的价值。

　　But not, perhaps, for much longer.

　　或许以后不会再这样了，

　　Support has been swelling¹³ for open-access scientific publishing: doing it online, in a way that allows anyone to read papers free of charge.

　　支持开放科学出版业的呼声越来越强烈：把研究成果放到网上，让任何人都可以免费查阅。

　　The movement started among scientists themselves, but governments are now, as Britain's announcement makes clear, paying attention and asking whether they, too, might benefit from the change.

　　这个运动开始由科学家发起，但是现在政府也站了出来，比如英国政府的通告就很清楚，它不仅在关注此事，还询问科学家们是否可以从这个变化中受益。

　　The British announcement followed the publication of a report by Dame¹⁴ Janet Finch¹⁵, a sociologist¹⁶ at the University of Manchester, which recommends encouraging a business model adopted by one of the pioneers of open-access publishing, the Public Library of Science.

　　报告发表之后英国政府才发出通告，这位曼彻斯特大学的社会学家建议鼓励一种商业模式，这个方法被一家开放出版业的先锋—公共科学图书馆所采纳。

　　This organisation¹⁷, a charity based in San Francisco, charges authors a fee and then makes their papers available over the internet for nothing.

　　公共科学图书馆是一家位于旧金山的慈善组织，它会付给作者一笔费用，然后再把他们的论文在网上免费公开。

　　For PLoS, as the charity is widely known, this works well.

　　对于公共科学图书馆来说，它的慈善事业广为人知，并且做得很好，

　　It has launched seven widely respected electronic journals since its foundation in 2000.

　　并且从2000成立开始，已经出版了7大类备受推崇的电子期刊，

　　For reasons lost in history, this is known as the gold model.

　　虽然由于各种各样的原因，它们都淹没在历史的尘埃中，这种方式被称为 黄金模式。

　　The NIH's approach is different.

　　国家卫生研究所的方法不一样，

　　It lets researchers publish in traditional journals, but on condition that, within a year, they post their papers on a free repository website called PubMed.

　　它允许传统学术期刊发表研究人员的论文，但是有一个条件，就是在一年之内他的论文会在一家名为PubMed网站的免费知识库中公布，

　　Journals have to agree to this, or be excluded from the process.

　　期刊出版商必须同意这么做，要么就会被排除在该程序之外，

　　This is known as the green model.

　　这就被称为绿色模式。

　　Both gold and green models involve prepublication peer review.

　　不管是黄金模式还是绿色模式都涉及到正式出版前的同业互查问题，

　　But a third does away with even that.

　　但第三种就不需要这样了，

　　Many scientists, physicists¹⁸ in particular, now upload drafts of their papers into public archives paid for by networks of universities for the general good.

　　现在很多科学家都为共同利益而把他们的草稿上传到由大学运营的网络公共档案馆中，

　　Here, manuscripts are subject to a ruthless process of open peer review, rather than the secret sort traditional publishers employ.

　　在这里，手稿都暴露在严格的同业互查之下，而不是被传统出版商私下分类。

　　An arXived paper may end up in a traditional journal, but that is merely to provide an imprimatur for the research team who wrote it. Its actual publication, and its value to other scientists, dates from its original arrival online.

　　一份被arXiv化论文可能会以传统期刊的出版而结束，但这仅仅只是为研究小组提供出版许可，它的实际出版物，还有对其他科学家的价值和原始数据都可以在网上找到。

　　The success of PLoS, and the political shift towards open access, is encouraging other new ventures, too.

　　科学公共图书馆的成功让其把政策转向开放阅览，这也鼓励了其他新的投资者。

　　Seeing the writing on the wall, several commercial publishers are experimenting with gold-model publishing.

　　在看到这些不祥之兆后，一些商业出版商开始尝试以黄金模式出版，

　　Meanwhile, later this year, a coalition¹⁹ of the Wellcome Trust, the Max Planck Institute and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute will publish the first edition of eLife, an open-access journal with ambitions to rival the most famous journal of the lot, Nature.

　　与此同时，在今年晚些时候，马普研究院和霍华休斯医学研究中心将与维康信托基金会合作，出版首期eLife电子期刊，

　　The deep pockets of these organisations mean that, for the first few years at least, this journal will not even require a publication fee.

　　这份开放阅览的期刊有信心与它们之中最著名的《自然》竞争，那些财大气粗的组织甚至想至少在头几年不对期刊收取出版费。

　　Much remains²⁰ to be worked out.

　　仍然还有许多要解决的东西，

　　Some fear the loss of the traditional journals' curation and verification of research.

　　一些人担心会失去传统期刊的内容治理和调查核实，

　　Even Sir Mark Walport, the director of the Wellcome Trust and a fierce advocate of open-access publication, worries that a system based on the green model could become fragmented.

　　甚至维康信托基金会的主管和开放出版的坚定支持者Mark Walport先生也担心基于绿色模式的系统会分崩离析，

　　That might happen if the newly liberated²¹ papers ended up in different places rather than being consolidated²² in the way the NIH insists on.

　　如果新式宽松论文政策被某些原因终结而不是如NIH所坚持走统一合并的路子，这一切就有可能发生。

　　But research just published in BMC Medicine suggests papers in open-access journals are as widely cited as those in traditional publications.

　　但是根据《BMC医学》最近公布的调查显示，开放阅览期刊被引用的广泛程度和传统期刊一样多。

　　A revolution, then, has begun.

　　所以一场革命已经开始了，

　　Technology permits it; researchers and politicians want it.

　　不仅技术上可行，研究人员和政客也需要。

　　If scientific publishers are not trembling in their boots, they should be.

　　如果传统科技图书出版商没有觉得胆战心惊的话，那现在就是时候了。

1 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

2 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

3 mediated   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的过去式和过去分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• He mediated in the quarrel between the two boys. 他调解两个孩子之间的争吵。
• The government mediated between the workers and the employers. 政府在工人与雇主间搞调和。

4 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

5 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

6 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

7 egregious   

adj.非常的，过分的

参考例句：

• When it comes to blatant lies,there are none more egregious than budget figures.谈到公众谎言，没有比预算数字更令人震惊的。
• What an egregious example was here!现摆着一个多么触目惊心的例子啊。

8 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

9 organise   

vt.组织，安排，筹办

参考例句：

• He has the ability to organise.他很有组织才能。
• It's my job to organise all the ceremonial events.由我来组织所有的仪式。

10 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。

11 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

12 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

13 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

14 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

15 finch   

n.雀科鸣禽(如燕雀，金丝雀等)

参考例句：

• This behaviour is commonly observed among several species of finch.这种行为常常可以在几种雀科鸣禽中看到。
• In Australia,it is predominantly called the Gouldian Finch.在澳大利亚，它主要还是被称之为胡锦雀。

16 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

17 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

18 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

19 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

20 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

21 liberated   

a.无拘束的，放纵的

参考例句：

• The city was liberated by the advancing army. 军队向前挺进，解放了那座城市。
• The heat brings about a chemical reaction, and oxygen is liberated. 热量引起化学反应，释放出氧气。

22 consolidated   

a.联合的

参考例句：

• With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country's leading director. 他新执导的影片巩固了他作为全国最佳导演的地位。
• Those two banks have consolidated and formed a single large bank. 那两家银行已合并成一家大银行。