-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 From: The Alliance for Taxpayer Access (http://www.taxpayeraccess.org)
Call to action: Contact your Senator with support for public access to NIH-funded research As the Senate considers Appropriations measures for the 2008 fiscal year this fall, please take a moment to remind your Senators of your strong support for public access to publicly funded research and specifically ensuring the success of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy by making deposit mandatory for researchers. Earlier this summer, the House of Representatives passed legislation with language that directs the NIH to make this change (http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/media/release07-0720.html). The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a similar measure (http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/media/release07-0628.html). Now, as the Appropriations process moves forward, it is critically important that our Senators are reminded of the breadth and depth of support for enhanced public access to the results of NIH-funded research. Please take a moment to weigh in with your Senator now. Contact information for the Senate is included below. Please call or write with your support **no later than Friday, September 28, 2007**. Feel free to draw upon the following talking points: * American taxpayers are entitled to open access on the Internet to the peer-reviewed scientific articles on research funded by the U.S. government. Widespread access to the information contained in these articles is an essential, inseparable component of our nation's investment in science. * The Fiscal Year 2008 Labor/HHS Appropriations Bill reported out of committee contains language directing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to change its Public Access Policy so that it requires NIH-funded researchers to deposit copies of agency-funded research articles into the National Library of Medicine's online archive. * Over the more than two years since its implementation, the NIH's current voluntary policy has failed to achieve any of the agency's stated goals, attaining a deposit rate of less than 5% by individual researchers. A mandate is required to ensure deposit in NIH¹s online archive of articles describing findings of all research funded by the agency. * We urge the Senate to support the inclusion of language put forth in the Labor/HHS Appropriations bill directing the NIH to implement a mandatory policy and ensuring free, timely access to all research articles stemming from NIH-funded research without change in any appropriate vehicle. (We'll be making additional resources for patient advocates including the recording of our August 30 Web cast and specific talking points available shortly as well. Watch the ATA Web site or email me directly for updates.) Again, please take a moment to express your support for public access to research to your Senator as soon as possible and no later than September 28. As always, we'd appreciate it if you'd let us know of what action you're able to take, or send a copy your letter to the ATA through (202) 872-0884 (fax). Thank you! Contact information for Senators: http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm - -- Gavin Baker http://freeculture.org/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFG5yvxtLXQdLhFpekRAmIJAJ0dvICqblr6QphkWyzG2agOiK4FbwCgohsA WsqeVlPd3vwH528yy6yHiI0= =piOS -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
