Although the internet makes educating oneself free, in many cases, the cost of refereed papers is too much for me and many other retired people. I really would like to read Eternity in six hours: Intergalactic spreading of intelligent life and sharpening the Fermi paradox, and other papers from time to time, but cannot afford them. Since university salaries and research grants are often paid by governments, it seems to me that I've already paid tax $ for many of them.

Papers would be much more expensive if you also had to pay for the salaries of the scientists. Think of an average paper taking 1-2 person-years of work (not counting equipment) and being read by 10 people ... . It would be interesting if goverments forced scientists paid by them to publish their results as free access, though.

 

Btw.: Google scholar gave me this link: http://commonsenseatheism.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Armstrong-Sandberg-Eternity-in-six-hours-intergalactic-spreading-of-intelligent-life-and-sharpening-the-Fermi-paradox.pdf

Perhaps you can access that (I can, but my Internet connection may or may not have journal access extras).

Quite a lot is available via the arXiv, but I cannot find the specific paper you ask about.

 

I understand your frustration.

tyvm, timo

Education was always FREE,just think.

There is a push towards open source publishing. However, many prestigious journals are still in the hands of publishing companies that want to turn a profit. Note that the scientists actually have to be pay for publishing and in some cases open source journals are more expensive.

Some for-profit journals are actually free to publish in, if you do not include color prints, for example.

Obviously, most scientists would be happier if more people could read their work. but sometimes budget constraints are very, very tough.