I was alerted to this piece by the excellent MRC Policy Watch bulletin. Great, that looks interesting I thought – a BMJ article about how research papers could be made more readable and interesting. Opening up research to the masses is what I’m all about. Particularly when the strapline is so good: Why do scientists write the sort of tosh that they do?

So I clicked and I got that sinking paywall feeling when it asked me to subscribe or pay for it. Indeed, a full whopping £24 for the day just to read the one article – that’s three Waitrose curries for two. Is the irony of this not lost on the BMJ I ask? Particular when it’s really an opinion piece like this rather than an original bit of science.

Enough already! As they say.

As an alternative you might try the latest MRC Network magazine which you can find here. And I’m not saying that just because there’s an article by me in it about collaboration. Oh, ok then, I am.