Association of Research Libraries (ARL®) :: ARL Commends Obama Administration for Historic Action Opening up Access to Federa...

abernard102@gmail.com 2013-02-23

Summary:

"Today, the Obama administration issued a historic Policy Memorandum that opens up access to the results of publicly funded research. ARL applauds the Obama administration for this critically important action. The memorandum calls upon federal agencies with annual research and development budgets of $100 million or more to provide the public with free and unlimited online access to the results of that research. 'This memorandum reflects how 21st-century science is conducted in order to advance discovery while, at the same time, it makes federal investment in research broadly available. ARL commends the Obama administration for recognizing the importance and value of making the results of federally funded research publicly available,' said Wendy Lougee, President of ARL and University Librarian, McKnight Presidential Professor, University of Minnesota Libraries. The federal government funds tens of billions of dollars in scientific research each year, with the understanding that this taxpayer investment will advance science, spur the economy, accelerate innovation, and lead to medical breakthroughs, thus improving the lives of all Americans. This research is published in peer-reviewed scientific journals but is not widely available because many journals are too expensive and difficult to access. The White House policy directs that the results of government-funded research—including both unclassified articles and digital data—must be made freely available to the general public. Articles resulting from publicly funded research must be made available using 12 months as a guide after publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. As noted by Elliott Shore, Executive Director of ARL, 'this memorandum builds on years of investment by the government, research libraries, and the academy to advance the nation’s innovation agenda. ARL looks forward to working with federal agencies to ensure that their policies work well for research institutions and the public.' The memorandum comes as the bipartisan Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR), is making its way through the US House of Representatives and Senate. The legislation was introduced in the 113th Congress by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Representatives Mike Doyle (D-PA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and Kevin Yoder (R-KS)."

Link:

http://www.arl.org/news/pr/arl-commends-obama-administration-for-historic-action-opening-up-access.shtml

From feeds:

Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) » abernard102@gmail.com

Tags:

oa.new oa.data oa.comment oa.libass oa.mandates oa.usa oa.legislation oa.green oa.libraries oa.librarians oa.funders oa.ostp oa.arl oa.fastr oa.obama_directive oa.repositories oa.policies

Date tagged:

02/23/2013, 10:17

Date published:

02/23/2013, 05:17