Questions to Consider
What is an academic/research journal's responsibility here, both specifically in this situation and more broadly?
Is some science -- incomplete knowledge -- better than none?
On whom should the financial burden be placed in this situation? Should anyone profit? If so, who?
What do members of the public stand to gain or lose from the open publication of this research?
What is the media's responsibility in all this?
How does this decision to open-access publish interact with the state of scientific literacy in American society?
Many of these questions pertain directly to the open-access publication of COVID-19 research, but some relate to larger questions surrounding the widespread adoption of open-access publication.
And these larger questions are of particular importance now, as the discourse surrounding open-access publication has been strongly affected by this particular situation. Proceed to the next section to learn more.