Open Access Resolutions at Pacific University

"The Pacific University College of Health Professions faculty voted nearly unanimously on February 16 in support of a resolution that encourages them to make their scholarly work freely available online by depositing it in CommonKnowledge or other disciplinary repositories, or by publishing in open access journals. The non-binding resolution is patterned after a resolution adopted by the University of Washington Faculty Senate and is one of the first passed specifically by a school or college of health professions in the United States. While increasing access to journal literature is vital across all disciplines, there is a special need for more equitable access for health professionals. In a model of patient care that depends on using the best available evidence to inform clinical practice, it is nearly unconscionable that clinical decision-making (or the education of future practitioners) could be informed not by the best evidence, but by the evidence that practitioners and educators can afford to access. By providing free access to their scholarship, College of Health Professions faculty are helping to change that...."