Public voices have largely been absent from the discussions about open access publishing in medical research. Yet the public have a strong interest in ensuring open access of medical research findings because of their roles as funders, advocates, research participants, and patients. By limiting access to research outputs, the current publishing system makes it more difficult for research to be held accountable to the public. Paywalls undermine the work of public advocacy, which requires open access in order to lobby for policy changes and research funding. Research participants generously give their time and energy to research studies with the assumption that the results will be broadly disseminated. Finally, members of the public have a stake in open access publishing as a resource for health information and decision-making. This commentary explores these crucial roles of the public in order to develop a public rationale for open access medical research. We outline a critique of the current academic publishing ecosystem, re-focus the open access debate from a public perspective, and respond to some of the arguments against public open access. Although open access to medical research is not a panacea, removing paywalls and other barriers to public access is essential. The public are critical stakeholders of medical research data.

中文翻译：

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向公众开放：付费访问和开放获取医学研究出版的公共理由

关于医学研究中的开放获取出版的讨论在很大程度上没有公众的声音。然而，由于公众作为资助者，倡导者，研究参与者和患者的角色，公众对确保医学研究成果的公开使用具有浓厚兴趣。通过限制对研究成果的访问，当前的发布系统使研究难以对公众负责。收费墙破坏了公众宣传的工作，公共宣传需要公开访问，以游说政策变更和研究经费。研究参与者慷慨地投入时间和精力进行研究，并假设结果将被广泛传播。最后，公众作为健康信息和决策的资源，在开放获取发布中占有一席之地。这篇评论探讨了公众的这些关键角色，以便为开放获取医学研究建立公共理由。我们概述了对当前学术出版生态系统的批评，从公共角度重新关注了开放获取辩论，并对一些反对公共开放获取的论点做出了回应。尽管开放获取医学研究并非万能药，但消除收费壁垒和其他公共获取障碍至关重要。公众是医学研究数据的关键利益相关者。尽管开放获取医学研究并非万能药，但消除收费壁垒和其他公共获取障碍至关重要。公众是医学研究数据的关键利益相关者。尽管开放获取医学研究并非万能药，但消除收费壁垒和其他公共获取障碍至关重要。公众是医学研究数据的关键利益相关者。