{"id":172867,"date":"2024-10-31T10:13:47","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T09:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=172867"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:33","slug":"no-rights-reserved-why-academics-allow-their-knowledge-to-be-exploited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/10\/31\/no-rights-reserved-why-academics-allow-their-knowledge-to-be-exploited\/","title":{"rendered":"No rights reserved: why academics allow their knowledge to be exploited"},"content":{"rendered":"

W<\/span>e academics are trained to believe that knowledge holds priority over other <\/span>things \u2013 just check with our loved ones<\/span>,<\/span> I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll agree. Most of us share <\/span>the primary value of contributing to society, which probably drew us to <\/span>academic life in the first place. But somewhere along the way, we either forgot <\/span>or consciously chose not to care about personal gains from our work.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>, \t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPauline Wiersema<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

This prosocial attitude, though virtuous, seems to have led us into collective <\/span>ignorance, making us easy targets for those profiting from the knowledge we <\/span>generate. I was largely unaware of the issue myself \u2013 until I signed a publishing <\/span>agreement for my book. Long story short: the book will be out, maybe you will <\/span>see it on the shelves, you may even buy it, but one thing is certain \u2013 none of the <\/span>proceeds will reach anyone who actually contributed to writing it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why? Well, one reason is undoubtedly the academic system that sustains this <\/span>unfair exchange. From the moment we begin our PhD education and throughout <\/span>our academic careers, the goal is to conduct research worth sharing with the <\/span>public. But regardless of what type of work we publish, it is common practice to <\/span>forgo personal benefit. Not only that, we even accept the additional cost to <\/span>make our work accessible. We do the research, write it up, submit it to a <\/span>journal, review it, and then pay that journal so that<\/span> more people<\/span> can read it. It <\/span>brings to mind the image of a cow paying for its milk to be distributed. Sounds <\/span>ridiculous, doesn\u2019t it?<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s paradoxical that a highly educated group, representing the idea that <\/span>knowledge is the key to success, allows their knowledge to be exploited. But the <\/span>system is also to blame, as it both allows and pressures us into this ignorance. <\/span>Many of us \u2013 and I publicly admit to this \u2013 do not fully understand the publishing <\/span>agreements we sign, nor the adjustments we could make to them. Despite <\/span>publishing being a large part of our job, we lack basic training in this area. <\/span><\/p>\n

Another issue is that we\u2019ve become passive, failing to seek support even when <\/span>it\u2019s available (for example, the university\u2019s legal department can help you out). <\/span>We keep <\/span>blindly accepting the given terms and <\/span>clicking that \u2018sign here\u2019 button, <\/span>unaware of the culture we are perpetuating.<\/span><\/p>\n

But I wonder, what would our position look like if we were all aware of our <\/span>rights and assertively vocal about them \u2013 if we borrowed a little of that Gen Z <\/span>spirit? I suspect that not only would we gain more respect for our work, but <\/span>others would too. Maybe it\u2019s worth <\/span>a <\/span>try<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n\t

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Irena Bo<\/span>\u0161<\/span>kovi\u0107 is assistant professor of Forensic and Legal Psychology.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t

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