What CU Boulder researchers have in common with Taylor Swift
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photo: Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images
Taylor Swift: music icon, billionaire, football fanatic ... and champion for scholarly research? A recent article by a University of Colorado librarian likens Swift's re‑recording saga to researchers losing access to their own work.
Why it matters: CU officials say equitable and affordable access to scholarly research is key to innovation — yet many academics cede copyrights in order to publish their work in major journals, limiting how the work can be shared.
Driving the news: CU Boulder scholarly communication librarian Melissa Cantrell told Axios Boulder that Swift's fight for ownership of her music is a struggle academic scholars know all too well.
- In her article, Cantrell advocates for "open access," which means making research articles freely available online.
How it works: In traditional scholarly publishing, researchers submit their work to a journal for vetting and then publishing.
- But Cantrell said some researchers don't realize many author contracts include copyright forfeit.
- That means universities have to buy back work their own researchers produced through a journal subscription.
- And that isn't cheap: CU Boulder pays more than $10 million every year in journal subscriptions, according to the university.
Yes, but: CU has several open access agreements with publishers, as well as an open access fund to help cover costs of publishing.
- The university estimates 75% of the work its researchers produced in 2023 is available through open access.
What she's saying: Cantrell told Axios Boulder lack of access to scholarly work can impact everything from cancer treatment to COVID pandemic studies.
- "A lot of the research that goes on at a big university like CU Boulder is meant to benefit the public in some way … so there's a big push to make that info more available," Cantrell said.
The other side: Opponents of open access have raised concerns about poor quality without the vetting steps traditional journals take.
- Cantrell told Axios Boulder tenure pressures also steer researchers to more "prestigious" journals.
- The Trump administration, in an effort to combat what Donald Trump Jr. called "woke" science, has terminated millions in funding for Springer Nature, a scientific publishing giant that has an open access agreement with CU Boulder.
What's next: Institutions can help, but Cantrell argues authors must be bold enough to reclaim control over their work — just as Swift did.
- "We can only do so much in the libraries — faculty need to have these discussions within their departments," Cantrell said.