Athena Unbound explores the open access movement: The past history, current conflicts and controversies, and future possibilities. The author provides analysis of the debates, and explores issues such as copyright and the economics of paying for “free” knowledge.

Topics covered include the arguments in terms of disseminating scientific research, the history of intellectual property and copyright, and the development of the university and research establishment. The author “proposes a new system that would shift costs from consumers to producers and free scholarly knowledge from the paywalls and institutional barriers that keep it from much of the world.”