The Darkest Hour: Private Information Control and the End of the Democratic Science

The evaluation of scientific research is based on data protected by secrecy and intellectual property (e.g., Elsevier Scopus or Clarivate Web of Science). The peer review process is essentially anonymous. While science has progressed thanks to public dialogue, the current evaluation system is centered on private information control. This represents a fundamental shift from democratic to authoritarian science. Open Science may contrast this change only if it is accepted as the heir, in the digital age, of the values and principles that public and democratic science has traditionally fostered in the age of printing, thus becoming the guardian of a democratic society.