Sunday, June 17, 2007

How Open Access Chemistry Helps Developing Countries

Excerpt from Peter Suber's Open Access News blog, Sunday, June 17, 2007 - please see OA News for the links:

Ales Fajgelj, Assuring Quality of Analytical Measurement Results: The IUPAC Role, Chemistry International, May/June 2007. Chemistry International is the news magazine of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.

Over the past 30 years the value of world trade has risen dramatically. In 2005 it amounted to almost USD 17 trillion.... A large proportion of this trade is dependent upon chemical analyses, since food, pharmaceutical products, medicines, ores, and chemical products in general represent the largest groups of trading items. To gain acceptance in the trading process, the quality of analytical measurement results needs to be assured and demonstrated....

...A careful look into the distribution of the most influential organizations and bodies related to standardization and harmonization in the area of analytical chemistry reveals that there is a strong concentration in the northern hemisphere. The fact is that barriers of trade exist and are still growing between developed and developing economies. One reason for this is the standardization and application of very strong quality requirements in the accreditation process, without provision of the required assistance and support to developing countries. In this respect, the role of independent, non-commercial, non-profit scientific organizations like IUPAC is of utmost importance. The second important way of overcoming such differences is by open access to scientific literature (e.g., via the Internet). The IUPAC journal Pure and Applied Chemistry is a valuable example.Open Access News blog:

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