Hi everyone,
Last week, US Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Joseph Lieberman
(D-Connecticut) proposed the Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006,
a groundbreaking bill that will shake the foundations of scientific
research publishing. The bill proposes that scientific articles based on
research funded by the federal government must be made freely available
to the public over the Internet within six months of publishing. If
enacted into law, the bill would force scientific publishers to release
the full text of articles that would otherwise be accessible to
libraries and professionals who pay hefty fees for access. All federal
agencies that spend at least $100 million a year funding scientific
research would require its grantees to participate in the program,
hosting the research texts online in a "stable digital repository."
"Tax payer-funded research should be accessible to tax payers," said
Sen. Lieberman in a statement. "Our bill will give researchers, medical
professionals and patients in Connecticut and throughout the nation
access to scientific discoveries and advancements that can help bring
new treatments and cures to the public."
"Unfortunately, as it stands now, most Americans have little - to no -
timely access to this wealth of information, despite the fact that their
tax dollars paid for the research," said Sen. Cornyn in a speech on the
Senate floor. "Our bill simply says to all researchers who seek
government funding that we want the results of your work to be seen by
the largest possible audience. It will ensure that U.S. taxpayers do not
have to pay twice for the same research - once to conduct it, and a
second time to read it."
Read more on my blog here:
http://www.andycarvin.com
permalink:
http://www.andycarvin.com/archives/2006/05/scientific_publisher.html
Digg it:
http://digg.com/science/Scientific_Publishers_Leery_of_Open_Access_Publishing_Legislation
thanks,
andy
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Andy Carvin
acarvin (at) edc . org
andycarvin (at) yahoo . com
http://www.andycarvin.com
http://www.digitaldivide.net
http://www.pbs.org/learningnow
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