The Public Library of Science group

The Public Library of Science (PLoS, pronounced to rhyme with ‘floss’) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making science and medical literature freely available to the world. The group rightly assumed that this offer would appeal to the college crowd — after all, it has the word ‘free’ in it — and started a Facebook group.

In addition to offering free access to top scientific and medical studies, the group allows users to submit their own work: a great opportunity for grad students who believe in open access and have papers they’d like to see published. You retain your copyright under a Creative Commons license.

ThePLoS group offers more than free reading materials. It also offers users tangible ways to get involved in the political side of science (for actual political science you’ll have to go elsewhere). Regular updates urge users to contact local and national politicians about a number of issues, ranging from the proposed NiH bill (which would give taxpayers access to all publicly-funded NiH research, a no-brainer if you ask me) to boycotting the Association of American Publishers for their condemnation of open access programs.

The group also monitors open access news and progress for its readers. Did you know there’s a revolution happening in the publishing world? Newspapers especially are having a tough time adapting to the internet age. The PLoS knew, and they’ve got links to articles discussing new models for print media, debating the benefits of online subscription access versus larger revenues from ad traffic on free access sites, and more.

If all this sounds boring, you’re not paying attention. Remember the recent revelation that hormone therapy (often used to “treat” menopause) probably causes breast cancer? How many women in your family had to go through chemo because their doctors recommended a carcinogenic drug? Imagine if you had access to every health study you pay for.

The PLoS is also hosting an event, complete with Facebook page: the 2nd North Carolina Science Blogging Conference. The event is, of course, free and open to the public.

And, of course, the PLoS offers that all-important staple of any good internet group: the blog debate, open to anyone with a keyboard and a will to rant. Which basically means everyone.

Like This Post? Subscribe to Our RSS Feed and Never Miss Another Post!