Open Access Could Come to Illinois Universities

"A new state law will give open access to the research conducted at public universities in Illinois. The Open Access to Research Articles Act requires each public university to set up a task force by Jan. 1, 2014, that will consider how to meet open access goals. Traditionally, faculty research is not available publically, but is published in scholarly academic journals that charge subscription fees. But Illinois universities will now consider making their research available at no charge online. They'll also look at how other universities and the federal government are handling open access. The news comes on the heels of the University of California's recent announcement that its faculty adopted an open access policy. The Illinois legislation went through significant changes since it was introduced in February. Initially, the language required universities to develop an open access policy within 12 months. But it later scratched the mandatory policy and left it up to university task forces to come up with their own ideas."