SPARC Supports IL Law To Open Access To Scientific Research | SPARC

"The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), an international alliance of academic and research libraries, applauds Governor Pat Quinn for signing into law the Open Access to Research Articles Act.  The bill, which was spearheaded by State Senator Daniel Biss, requires each Illinois public university to create an open access task force with the goal of making its research available to the public online and free of charge. 'We now have the opportunity to take full advantage of the digital environment to accelerate scientific discovery, promote innovation and economic growth, and create jobs,' said Heather Joseph, Executive Director of SPARC. 'Illinois universities should embrace this opportunity to share their research expertise with the state, the nation and the world, and join the many other colleges and universities that are adopting policies to make their research results publicly accessible.' Every year, researchers at Illinois public universities conduct scientific research – funded in part by taxpayer dollars – that results in thousands of articles published in scientific journals.  The public funds this research with the understanding that it will advance science, spur the economy, accelerate innovation, and improve the lives of its citizens.  Yet most people – including academics, students, and patients – are shut out of accessing and using the results of this research, because it is only available through expensive and often hard-to-access scientific journals. SPARC encourages the open access task forces to adopt two basic principles in their deliberations: Ideally, research articles should be available to the public immediately, but certainly no later than six months after publication; and The research articles should be made available in formats and under licensing terms that permit users to read, download, search, compute on, data mine or analyze them for any lawful purpose. Illinois’ new law (Senate Bill 1900) reflects the growing trend of government and higher education institutions actively working to maximize access to and sharing of research results.  Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Oberlin College, and the University of Kansas are examples of the increasing number of colleges and universities that are adopting policies to make their research available to the public online, at no cost. On the national level, SB1900 advances the progress made by the public access policy of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the first U.S. agency to require public access to taxpayer-funded research, and the recently announced landmark White House Open Access Directive requiring all federal agencies to develop public access policies. 'This is an unprecedented time for the Open Access movement,' said Joseph.  'We thank Senator Biss and Governor Quinn for their leadership on open access and encourage the universities to move quickly to establish the open access task forces.'"