Clarkson University
IN-27: Innovation D

As described in STARS AC-11 - open and free access to new peer-reviewed research helps to stimulate learning and innovation, and facilitates the translation of this knowledge into public benefits that advance sustainability. Prof. Jason Schmitt, Clarkson’s Chair of the Communications & Media department is tackling the corporate publishing behemoth head-on to expose the inequities caused by and profits enabled by big publishing house journals that control most peer reviewed publications. Schmitt’s application of his communications and media scholarship exposes a system that limits the equitable access of scholarly research and is an excellent example of innovation in academic scholarship and public engagement related to sustainability. Because of the presentation of this work in a highly accessible manner, Paywall has a significant opportunity to transform the corporate and profit-oriented approach to academic publishing, thereby increasing universal access to the state or scholarly knowledge. The film has been screened publicly at the United Nations, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, British Library, and over 340 locations around the world and has had 140,000 views of our film online (as of 2/9/19). Although campus policies related to open access are included in STARS, this type of scholarly work and public engagement is beyond the standard points, included in research (AC-11) and public engagement. Information about the documentary “Paywall: The Business of Scholarship,” is available from a Clarkson press release, the movie’s website, and a blog on the subject on Science (AAAS) web site.