Commodification of Academic Publishing, Race & Genetics, and Related Bioethics

These flashcards cover key points on the commodification of academic publishing, Open Access types and metrics, race-based medicine and BiDil, modern critiques of biological race, genetic ancestry testing, surrogacy ethics, and related bioethical and sociopolitical issues. They follow a Question-and-Answer format to aid rapid exam review.

What is meant by the “commodification of academic publishing”?

Turning scholarly research into marketable products sold for profit, often restricting access and prioritizing revenue over knowledge dissemination.

Which problem does commodification pose for cancer palliative-care literature?

It can restrict access to vital research, especially in low-income regions, limiting its dissemination and impact on patient care.

What does the phrase “publish or perish” describe?

The career pressure on academics to continually publish in high-impact journals to secure jobs, funding, or promotion.

Define Open Science in one sentence.

A movement to make scientific research, data, and dissemination accessible to everyone, everywhere, at all times.

What is Open Access (OA) publishing?

Making scholarly articles freely available online without reader paywalls, often funded by author fees or other mechanisms.

Who launched Plan S and what is its core goal?

Coalition S (a group of funders) aims to ensure that all research outputs from publicly funded work are immediately Open Access.

On average, how much is an Article Processing Charge (APC)?

Roughly US $1,626, though fees vary widely and waivers may exist.

What is the Impact Factor in academic publishing?

The average number of citations received per article in a journal over a set period, often used—sometimes wrongly—as a proxy for quality.

Which organizations commonly publish journal Impact Factors?

Clarivate Analytics (Journal Citation Reports/Thomson Reuters) and Scopus.

Name two alternative research-impact metrics besides Impact Factor.

Citation count, h-index, Altmetrics (social-media attention), or grant funding totals.

List the basic steps of the traditional journal pathway from submission to reader.

Peer review → editorial board decision → publication → subscription paywall or Open Access release.

What is an Institutional Open-Access policy?

A rule requiring university-affiliated authors to deposit or publish their articles in OA venues.

How do Creative Commons licences aid Open Access?

They let readers reuse, share, or adapt content provided they credit the original authors, thus facilitating legal sharing.

Give one proposed technological innovation for future scholarly publishing.

Blockchain for secure, decentralized record keeping; AI-assisted peer review; large open-data repositories; or cloud computing for analysis.

What potential drawback is linked to preprint servers?

They host non-peer-reviewed papers, so erroneous or unethical work can circulate widely before formal vetting.

What is Green Open Access?

Self-archiving a version of a paper in an online repository where it is freely accessible.

Describe Gold Open Access in one sentence.

Articles are immediately free to read on the publisher’s site, with costs covered up-front (often via APCs).

How does Hybrid Open Access work?

A subscription journal lets individual authors pay to make their specific article OA while the rest remains behind a paywall.

What characterizes Bronze Open Access?

Articles are free to read on the publisher’s site but lack an explicit OA licence, restricting some reuse rights.

Define Diamond (or Platinum) Open Access.

OA that charges neither readers nor authors; costs are covered by institutions, societies, ads, or grants.

What is Black Open Access?

Unauthorized, large-scale copyright infringement (e.g., Sci-Hub) that provides free access to paywalled literature.

Differentiate Gratis OA from Libre OA.

Gratis OA removes price barriers only; Libre OA removes price plus some permission barriers, granting additional reuse rights.

Which two generic drugs make up BiDil?

Hydralazine and isosorbide dinitrate.

What key finding led to FDA approval of BiDil for African Americans?

The A-HeFT trial reported a 43 % survival increase and 33 % fewer hospitalizations in Black heart-failure patients.

State one major criticism of labeling BiDil a “Black drug.”

One small race-exclusive trial is insufficient; race is a social, not genetic, category, so efficacy claims are scientifically weak.

Why did BiDil ultimately fail commercially?

High price versus generics, limited insurance coverage (e.g., Medicaid), and public skepticism about race-based medicine.

According to Jonathan Kahn, what marketplace lesson did BiDil teach pharma?

Using race can be a cheaper, faster route to patents and FDA approval, inspiring more race-linked drug claims.

Which cholesterol drug recommended lower doses for Asian patients?

Crestor (rosuvastatin).

What proportion of human genetic variation lies between traditional racial groups?

Only about 6 %, per Lewontin (1972).

What FST value typically separates subspecies, and how do humans compare?

≈0.25 for subspecies; human continental groups average ≈0.11, far lower, so humans do not form biological races.

Explain ‘non-concordance’ of traits.

Different traits (e.g., skin color, lactose tolerance) vary independently, so visible features can’t predict other genetic traits.

Why do African populations contain the greatest genetic diversity?

Humans originated in Africa and lived there longest; later migrations carried only subsets of that diversity (serial founder effect).

Distinguish genetic ancestry from race.

Genetic ancestry tracks allele patterns linked to geography; race is a social classification not grounded in discrete genetics.

Define genetic essentialism in one sentence.

The mistaken belief that genes rigidly determine socially meaningful traits such as race, identity, or behavior.

List one danger of consumer DNA ancestry tests highlighted by scholars.

They can reinforce false biological notions of race, mislead about identity, or be misused in legal/political claims.

What critique does Kimberly TallBear raise about tribal DNA testing?

Tribal membership is cultural and political; relying on DNA risks excluding legitimate members and commodifying identity.

What is Millbank’s main proposal for Australian surrogacy law?

Allow regulated, compensated domestic surrogacy under strict ethical oversight to reduce unsafe offshore arrangements.

Name one ethical benefit Millbank sees in compensated surrogacy.

It acknowledges the surrogate’s labor and risk, while regulation preserves autonomy and minimizes exploitation.

Give an example of a false biologic belief held by some medical trainees.

That Black people have thicker skin or feel less pain, leading to undertreatment of pain.

According to Lujan & DiCarlo, how should race be taught in medical curricula?

As a social determinant influencing health via discrimination and environment, not as a biological risk factor.

Define adaptive introgression.

Transfer of genes between species/populations through hybridization, where the acquired genes boost fitness in the recipient group.

What caution do Jobling et al. raise about ‘recreational genomics’?

Commercial ancestry tests oversimplify data, fueling essentialist narratives detached from scientific nuance.

What is a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)?

A variation at a single base pair in DNA; the most common type of genetic variation in the human genome.

Where is mitochondrial DNA located and how is it inherited?

In mitochondria outside the nucleus, inherited almost exclusively from the mother.