Greek scientists lose journal site access as debt crisis unfolds

Greek scientists lost access to a portal of academic journals after the government didn’t provide payments this week to keep it going, the journal Nature reported.

The Hellenic Academic Libraries Link provided universities and institutes with research from 27 publishers before services were suspended July 1, Nature reported. Greece this week missed a $1.7 billion loan payment to the International Monetary Fund.

HEAL-Link is supported by the Greek government, in part with money from development funds from the European Union, Nature said. HEAL-Link representatives in Greece couldn’t be reached after office normal hours.

Scientists fear that importing items for research from overseas may also become more difficult, the Nature article said. Greek banks have been closed for the week, as capital controls were imposed ahead of a July 5 referendum on proposals to restore bailout aid to the nation.

The fallout from the debt crisis has rippled across the nation, with the stock market closed and citizens facing limits on ATM withdrawals.

[Bloomberg]