Not sure if it matters, but our library allows access to many of the articles that might not have a gift link. It would be helpful for posters to at least mention the title, and the date, and source, so I can head to my local library website.
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I donât think you understood what I was alluding to. Instead of typing up the title of a paywalled article and providing a link to the general publication page, post a link to said article. The title and source will be clearly visible to anyone clicking the link. These items do not get paywalled.
The rest is the same - a quote from the article is necessary.
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But some posters do post links to articles with a paywall.
Please see post of our moderator above explaining how to quote a paywalled article. Thatâs what I was referring to.
What is the difference between citing an article and linking an article? Many sites allow x number of free articles per month. In addition, it is my understanding that most libraries offer free access to The New York Times (and perhaps other newspapers), so most posters would have access to those articles if they wanted to go through their library portal. If some folks donât want to do so, then all of us are barred from linking NYT articles?
Finally, often (not always)the gist of a particular source is evident from the summary in the thumbnail, so even if the whole article is paywalled, the thumbnail alone offers at least some evidence for a talking point.
I understand the logic behind the new rule, but I am concerned that it, in practice, will weaken the value of the discussions here.
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I now bow out of this discussion. And possibly out of CC.
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It also occurs to me that this is policy feels like it wasnât well thought out, even if only because those posting articles may have no idea theyâre posting paywalled links.
Specific possibility: The university I work at has a subscription to a number of academic resources. If someone accesses any of several of them from on campus, they go directly to the material theyâre looking for, because the websites recognize the {state}.edu domain, and thereâs no paywall. However, if someone posts a link to on of those sites here on CC, it will be taken down as a violation of policy even though, and this is important, the poster has no way of knowing that they violated policy!
Similarly, there is the intermediate case of sites that offer X number of free views of articles per {month/year/until you clear cookies}. Someone could post a link to on of those, and some people will be able to get to it freely while others canât (having hit their view limit already). What happens to those? Is it just based on whether the moderator can access it?
Seriously, this isnât really properly workable. I get the idea, but itâs bad implementationâitâs trying to swat a gnat with a mallet.
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This policy shuts out ANY credible scientific sources that require subscription. Like majority of the American Chemical Society publications and many other scientific publications. Who here has a JACS subscription? Not many.
CC is going down the hellhole most social media platforms went to. We are a COLLEGE site. We can do better than war on science!
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I share this concern. Quality journalism has value, and that value comes with a cost. Most people canât afford unlimited subscriptions. For example, I subscribe to The New York Times but not The Washington Postâthough at one point, it was the opposite. Even when I couldnât access a paywalled article, I never felt excluded from the conversation.
This policy risks flooding discussions with lower-quality, free sources while pushing out well-researched journalism. Instead of improving discourse, it may actually lower the quality of information being shared.
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As an aside, in many cases, if a person types in the title or first sentence of an article into an AI of their choice, it reads the article to them. So these articles can be âreadâ without a subscription. It will be disappointing of many of the reliable news/media sources are silenced here, while the junk ones are allowed to proliferate.
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I also believe Iâve read old posts that had free gift links only to discover that the gift link had expired.
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Old posts may also contain links to pages that were free at the time of posting, but later had a paywall put in front of them.
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THIS.
We can (unknowingly maybe) link unlimited fake news articles, but are not allowed to link proof they are fake news because the legit sources are paywalled?
I am very glad we didnât have this rule during covid.
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I confess that I do find it annoying when someone shares an article behind a paywallâŠand I canât read it. But itâs easy enough for me to just scroll past. Or I respond withâŠâbehind a paywallââŠand often someone else will post a gift link.
I DO like that these shared articles are in one threadâŠunless they create a larger discussion. Then a thread bout that subject can be started. So many articles are posted, and only one or two responses. Perfect for a thread with shared articlesâŠin my opinion.
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But how can people discuss an article if pretty much no one can read it? (Using your assumption that few people have subscriptions to certain scientific publications). How would such a scientific, paywalled, article be used on CC? My question is sincere; I canât think how posting a link to an article people canât read could be useful, but I am sure I am not thinking of every possible situation.
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Thank you all for the feedback on this! As stated by @DadOfJerseyGirl the intent was never to censore any publications (that paywall their content). The goal was not to force users to pay for access in order to engage in a discussion. For the time being we will reconsider this policy and come back with an updated version that makes more sense.
In the meantime, please let us know what you think by taking the poll below.
Do you agree with banning paywalled links?
- Yes
- No
0
voters
Abstracts are typically available outside of the paywall. Even if you canât read all the details of the paper, a summary of a peer-reviewed scientific study related to a specific issue can be helpful. But the proposed policy as I understand it would have banned those links.
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Terrible decision to ban paywalled sources. We are all capable of researching a topic if given a lead.
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I donât think this a necessary policy at all and would actively discourage it.
Everyone understands some things have paywalls, some donât. Way of world.
Encouraging posters to mention it may be paywalled seems reasonable.
More philosophically, I think could be a subtle encouragement for readers to remember paid media is important and should cost money. Journalism isnât cheap. This isnât my main motivation, I just think moderating this is a waste of time.
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Iâm annoyed when people post paywalled links - but yes, I can research on my own. But iâm not opposed to the new rule.
If someone listed a quick synopsis, I can then go research - without the frustration of the paywall.
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