Open Access To Research: An Ideal Complicated By Reality - Forbes

"Next month a new Obama-administration policy will give the public greater access to research funded by the federal government.  This is good news for the scientific community as well as the general public—but not all university-based research is covered by the new policy, and some of it presents far more complex transparency issues. Announced last February, the memo from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy requires federal agencies that spend over $100 million annually supporting research and development to make the results of that (non-classified) research, as well as the underlying data, available to the public within a year of publication. The one-year period allows publishers of scientific journals time to retain their rights and make money ... Research universities applaud the new policy and are actively involved in devising ways to comply. A group of academic organizations (the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and the Association of Research Libraries) has proposed a system in which 'universities will collaborate with the federal government and others to host cross-institutional digital repositories' of research publications ... But the research covered by the new policy is not the only kind that is conducted at universities. Other kinds—primarily government-funded classified research and some industry-sponsored research—do not always appear in scientific publications and are sometimes at odds with the ideal of transparency and open communication of knowledge, an ideal that runs deep in the traditions of academic communities. That ideal, and the fear of political interference, are among the reasons that many universities, including Cornell, decline federal grants for classified research ... Industry contracts are another matter. Faced with budgetary pressures and constrained federal support, universities and their faculty increasingly rely on industry funding for some research projects. But industries’ proprietary interests in commercializing research results with a patent or new product often promote a degree of secrecy. There are ways to mitigate this concern, but it is real and can run counter to the academic ethos and the public good.  Other concerns about industry involvement in university research include undue influence on research agendas and conflicts of interest that may jeopardize research integrity. Derek Bok, the former president of Harvard, laid out these concerns a decade ago in his book Universities in the Marketplace.  But he also noted that 'the more practical world of industrial science' can provide valuable input for scientific exploration and that improving technology transfer 'is increasingly recognized as an explicit part of the mission of research universities.' And not all economic development related to university research requires formal intellectual property protection.  As Cornell University develops its new applied sciences and technology campus in New York City—with a program that links graduate education to technology commercialization and entrepreneurship—Cornell Tech’s leaders are committed to policies that will advance both academic and commercial outcomes while prioritizing educational objectives and research integrity in as transparent a context as possible.  Complete transparency and open access aren’t feasible in all types of research. But even as university leaders navigate the challenges of conducting advanced research in an environment of scarce resources and competing interests, we must preserve as much transparency as possible ..."