ABSTRACT
In an article published in Science 20 years ago, sociologist of science Dorothy Nelkin (1982) poses this question: “Who should control scientific information?” (p. 704). Considering scientific research broadly, but noting biomedical research as a major focus of interest at the time, she identifies several main tensions among academic scientists, government, and industry.1 She notes the growing reliance on intellectual property controls (especially patents), instead of more conventional peer review and regulation, to manage and direct the flow of scientific information and interaction. It was becoming more difficult, she argues, to establish standards or uniform principles for intellectual property protection that would balance property interests with the expectations of open and disinterested scientific practice and communication.
