Academic Publishers, and a U.S. Senator, Resist Possible Policy Change on Open Access | EdSurge News

"On Wednesday, academic publishers ratcheted up their efforts to prevent a possible executive order mandating that journal articles on scientific research conducted with federal funds be made immediately free for public access.

More than 125 organizations, including the Association of American Publishers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the New England Journal of Medicine, signed a letter addressed to President Trump expressing “deep concern” about the idea, which they argue could “jeopardize the intellectual property of American organizations engaged in the creation of high-quality peer-reviewed journals and research articles.”

The letter emphasizes the role U.S. science research plays in serving the country’s economic interests, since copyrighted journal articles are “licensed to users in hundreds of foreign countries, supporting billions of dollars in U.S. exports and an extensive network of American businesses and jobs.”

The strong reaction comes ahead of any publicly released information from the White House. On Wednesday, the communications director for the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy told EdSurge that “there are still many moving pieces” and that "we do not comment on internal deliberative processes that may or may not be happening."

That hasn’t stopped scientific societies and academic membership associations from fretting, though...."