The Darkest Hour: Private Information Control and the End of Democratic Science

Abstract

The evaluation of scientific research is based on data protected by secrecy and intellectual property (e.g., Elsevier Scopus or Clarivate Web of Sci- ence). The peer review process is essentially anonymous. While science has progressed thanks to public dialogue, the current evaluation system is centered on private control of information. This represents a fundamental shift from democratic to authoritarian science. Open Science may con- front this change only if it is accepted as the heir, in the digital age, of the values and principles that public and democratic science has traditionally fostered in the age of printing, thus becoming the guardian of a democrat- ic society.