College textbooks have become increasingly expensive over the years. Authors and publishers milk students all they can, regularly putting out “new” editions that have only minor, unnecessary changes. Some schools have tried to counter this burden by moving to online materials.

That’s not a bad development, but in today’s Martin Center article, Duke student Sherman Criner wonders if this could go too far.

He writes:

Aside from any learning-related concerns, there is a real possibility that a broad switch to OER could hamper future academic scholarship. Professors receive various forms of compensation for their work, ranging from salaries to grants, but they can also profit from publishing their scholarship as books. Unfortunately for such professors, widespread adoption of OER could deprive them of money by offering students a free alternative. This could obviously have a trickle-down effect on the quality and quantity of academic work.