Top all-time · #5519
Björn Brembs
Personal blog · bjoern.brembs.netsciencepolitics
Björn Brembs writes bjoern.brembs.blog, a personal blog at bjoern.brembs.net about science and politics. Since 2013, 14 different Hacker News readers have linked it 17 times, most often “Sci-Hub as necessary, effective civil disobedience”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-07-09, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (5) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN commenters cite Björn Brembs's blog on open access, Elsevier, journal prestige, publishing costs, peer review and Sci-Hub. They use his posts as sources and background for their own points.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 5 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
The blog of neurobiologist Björn Brembs
Most-linked posts?
- Sci-Hub as necessary, effective civil disobedience3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2016-02-25
- Why haven't we canceled all subscriptions?2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2016-05-20
- Even Without Retractions, ‘Top’ Journals Publish the Least Reliable Science2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2017-08-14
- Why academic journals need to go2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2018-02-20
What Hacker News says?
More importantly, prestige journals gateway career advancement, and in some cases, degree attainment, within numerous disciplines. This is covered extensively by advocates including Tim Gowers (maths) and Bjoern Brembs, both of whom blog heavily: < https://gowers.wordpress.com/category/Elsevier/ > < https://bjoern.brembs.net/tag/open-access/ > More so for some fields than others: physics, chemistry, and biology are…
Comment linking /tag/open-access/
on “MIT leaders describe the experience of not renewing Elsevier contract”Submitted Sci-Hub as necessary, effective civil disobedience as a story · 525 points
HN discussionThose numbers can't be right, honestly. Bjoern Brembs has been writing a lot about open access publishing and the costs associated, here he cites a few numbers: >There is ample material on how much the publication of a scholarly open-access article costs. SciELO publishes for under US$100 per article. SciELO, however, publishes largely in regions of the world where labor and other associated costs are comparatively…
Comment linking /2017/11/is-a-cost-neutral-transition-to-open-access-realistic/
on “Science’s Pirate Queen”Submitted Sci-Hub as Necessary, Effective Civil Disobedience as a story · 508 points
HN discussion>BS can still get through, but it is rare The data[0] suggests the exact opposite: the more prestigious the journal, the more bad science it attracts. [0] http://bjoern.brembs.net/2016/01/even-without-retractions-to...
Comment linking /2016/01/even-without-retractions-top-journals-publish-the-least-reliable-science/
on “German universities take on Dutch publishing giant Elsevier”Submitted The Growth of Administrative Staff in Universities as a story · 137 points
HN discussionMore on this idea: http://bjoern.brembs.net/2015/04/what-should-a-modern-scient... http://bjoern.brembs.net/2018/01/why-academic-journals-need-...
Comment linking /2018/01/why-academic-journals-need-to-go/
on “We shouldn’t take peer review as the ‘gold standard’”Submitted What should a modern scientific infrastructure look like? as a story · 40 points
HN discussionReminds me of: Sci-Hub As Necessary, Effective Civil Disobedience http://bjoern.brembs.net/2016/02/sci-hub-as-necessary-effect...
Comment linking /2016/02/sci-hub-as-necessary-effective-civil-disobedience/
on “Scientific research piracy site hit with $15M fine”Submitted Why haven't we canceled all subscriptions? as a story · 7 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why haven’t we already canceled all journal subscriptions? as a story · 6 points
HN discussionSubmitted Even Without Retractions, ‘Top’ Journals Publish the Least Reliable Science as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why open access Big Deals are worse than subscriptions as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why academic journals need to go as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Science has infected itself (voluntarily) with a life-threatening parasite as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted What Will Elsevier Do With Mendeley's Usage Data? as a story · 2 points
HN discussion
