ALLIANCE FOR TAXPAYER ACCESS
http://www.taxpayeraccess.org
Media Advisory
May 3, 2010
For more information, contact:
Jennifer McLennan
jennifer [at] arl [dot] org
(202) 296-2296 ext. 121
MAJOR RESEARCH INSTITUTION LEADERS SUPPORT LEGISLATION TO ENSURE
PUBLIC ACCESS TO PUBLICLY FUNDED RESEARCH
Washington, DC – The provosts and presidents of 27 major private and
public research institutions have voiced their support for the Federal
Research Public Access Act in an “Open Letter to the Higher Education
Community,” released Friday by the Harvard University Provost. The
Act, first introduced in the Senate last year, was introduced in the
House of Representatives on April 15. The letter signals expanded
support for public access to publicly funded research among the
largest research institutions in the U.S.
The letter reads, in part:
“As scholars and university administrators, we are acutely aware that
the present system of scholarly communication does not always serve
the best interests of our institutions or the general public.
Scholarly publishers, academic libraries, university leaders, and
scholars themselves must engage in an ongoing dialogue about the means
of scholarly production and distribution. This dialogue must
acknowledge both our competing interests and our common goals. The
passage of FRPAA will be an important step in catalyzing that
dialogue, but it is not the last one that we will need to take.
“FRPAA is good for education and good for research. It is good for the
American public, and it promotes broad, democratic access to
knowledge. While it challenges the academy and scholarly publishers to
think and act creatively, it need not threaten nor undermine a
successful balance of our interests. If passed, we will work with
researchers, publishers, and federal agencies to ensure its successful
implementation. We endorse FRPAA’s aims and urge the academic
community, individually and collectively, to voice support for its
passage.”
“The fact that such an august group of leaders has used the words
‘mission critical’ gets to the heart of how important this legislation
is to higher education,” added Alliance spokesperson and SPARC
executive director Heather Joseph. “We’re pleased to see the breadth
of support for this bill continue to grow at a steady pace.”
“The Open Letter to the Higher Education Community” is available at http://osc.hul.harvard.edu/docs/FRPAA-open-letter-2010.php
.
The Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) was introduced April 15
in the House of Representatives (H.R.5037) by Rep. Doyle (R-PA) and a
bi-partisan host of co-sponsors, and mirrors the Senate version (S.
1373) introduced in June 2009 by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and John
Cornyn (R-TX). The bill proposes to require those eleven federal
agencies with extramural research budgets of $100 million or more to
implement policies that deliver timely, free, online access to the
published results of the research they fund. The Act would build upon
the success of the first U.S. requirement for public access to
publicly funded research (through the National Institutes of Health)
and would require that the results of taxpayer-funded research be made
available no later than six months after publication in a journal.
The House introduction of the Act follows closely on the heels of a
recent expression of interest in public access policies from the White
House Office of Science and Technology Policy, which issued a request
for public comment on mechanisms that would leverage federal
investments in scientific research and increase access to information
that promises to stimulate scientific and technological innovation and
competitiveness.
For more information about the Federal Research Public Access Act and
the broad array of communities that support its passage, visit http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/frpaa
.
###
The Alliance for Taxpayer Access is a coalition of advocacy, academic,
research, and publishing organizations that supports open public
access to the results of federally funded research. The Alliance was
formed in 2004 to urge that peer-reviewed articles stemming from
taxpayer-funded research become fully accessible and available online
at no extra cost to the American public. Details on the ATA may be
found at http://www.taxpayeraccess.org.
-------------------------------------
Jennifer McLennan
Director of Programs & Operations
SPARC
[email protected]
(202) 296-2296 x121
Fax: (202) 872-0884
*******************************
SPARC 2010 Digital Repositories Meeting
November 8 & 9 - Baltimore, MD
http://www.arl.org/sparc/media/09-0223.shtml
*******************************
Open Access Week 2010
October 18 - 24. Everywhere.
http://www.openaccessweek.org
*******************************
http://www.arl.org/sparc
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