b'Propagating Potato Knowledge: APRE & Potatoes USAMove To Bring Research Further Into Public ViewBen Harris, Research Associate Manager,Potatoes USARarely do tales from the Dark Ages shed world,theresnotellinghowmuchlight on modern trends in health and darker those ages might have been.science, but the (entirely true) legend ofthe Potato King is a notable exception to Today, paywalls have taken the place ofthisrule.Backinthedaysofthe castle walls, and the diffusion of data inBubonic Plague, potatoes were woefully the cloud has become just as importantmisunderstood by the general populace. astheflowofphysicalcommoditiesPeoplesuspectedtheywereagentsof across geographic space, yet the moralhorrific ailments like leprosy, and fear ofthestoryremainsmuchthesame:spreadlikewildfire.Fuelingthispara- goodthingscomefromopenaccess.noia was, as is often the case, a pervasive This is why Potatoes USA is funding theatmosphereofsecrecyandhearsay. decisionbytheAllianceforPotatoThenalongcameFredericktheGreat, Research and Education (APRE) to makeruler of Prussia, who devised an elabo- its repository of information on potatorate ruse to trick his royal subjects into nutrition available for public consump-embracing the spud. He planted a pota- tion(figurativelyandliterallyspeak-USA Potatoesto crop and installed sentries to pretend ing), beginning in 2020. Aside from theto keep watch over the fields around the obviousadvantagesofopenaccessclock;inreality,theguardshadbeen (OA)generalreadersgainanunre-instructed to let the townspeople sneak strictedviewtothefullbreadthofMessagepast them and make off with tubers. The analysisonpotatonutrition,enablingmonarchs masterful use of reverse psy- more evidence-based dietary decisionschology enhanced the appeal of pota- thereareknock-offeffectsaswell.toes,removedbarrierstoaccessing Reproducibility improves under an OAthem, and encouraged their widespread systembecauseresearcherscanreadilyadoptioninthenationsagricultural readandbuildupononeanothersecosystem.In1744,Frederickordered results,breakingdownneedlesssiloespotatoseedtobedistributedtoevery andfosteringcollaboration,construc-cornerofhiskingdomanotherwise tive feedback, and innovation, not onlymove,asscholarshaveattributed betweenresearchinstitutionsbutalsoPrussiasabilitytorideouttheSeven acrossacademicdisciplines.Iffree-to-Years War to its ample stores of spuds. read articles in the Agricultural SciencesHadrulerslikeFrederickelected, receive up to 600% more citations thaninstead, to wall off potatoes and their subscription-only pieces, and success inwonderousbenefitsfromthewider academic scholarship is measured in the6 POTATO GROWER APRIL 2020'