Alliance for Taxpayer Access
www.taxpayeraccess.org
For immediate release
December 26, 2007
Contact:
Jennifer McLennan
jennifer [at] arl [dot] org
(202) 296-2296 ext. 121
PUBLIC ACCESS MANDATE MADE LAW
President Bush signs omnibus appropriations bill,
including=20
National Institutes of Health research access provision
Washington, D.C. =AD December 26, 2007 =AD President Bush
has signed=20
into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2007 (H.R.
2764),=20
which includes a provision directing the National Institutes
of=20
Health (NIH) to provide the public with open online access
to=20
findings from its funded research. This is the first time
the=20
U.S. government has mandated public access to research
funded by=20
a major agency.
The provision directs the NIH to change its existing
Public=20
Access Policy, implemented as a voluntary measure in 2005,
so=20
that participation is required for agency-funded
investigators.=20
Researchers will now be required to deposit electronic
copies of=20
their peer-reviewed manuscripts into the National Library
of=20
Medicine=B9s online archive, PubMed Central. Full texts of
the=20
articles will be publicly available and searchable online
in=20
PubMed Central no later than 12 months after publication in
a=20
journal.
"Facilitated access to new knowledge is key to the
rapid=20
advancement of science," said Harold Varmus, president
of the=20
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Nobel Prize
Winner.=20
"The tremendous benefits of broad, unfettered access
to=20
information are already clear from the Human Genome
Project,=20
which has made its DNA sequences immediately and freely
available=20
to all via the Internet. Providing widespread access, even
with a=20
one-year delay, to the full text of research articles
supported=20
by funds from all institutes at the NIH will increase
those=20
benefits dramatically."
"Public access to publicly funded research contributes
directly=20
to the mission of higher education," said David
Shulenburger,=20
Vice President for Academic Affairs at NASULGC (the
National=20
Association of State Universities and Land-Grant
Colleges).=20
=B3Improved access will enable universities to maximize
their own=20
investment in research, and widen the potential for
discovery as=20
the results are more readily available for others to build
upon.=B2
"Years of unrelenting commitment and dedication by
patient groups=20
and our allies in the research community have at last
borne=20
fruit," said Sharon Terry, President and CEO of Genetic
Alliance.=20
"We=B9re proud of Congress for their unrelenting
commitment to=20
ensuring the success of public access to NIH-funded
research. As=20
patients, patient advocates, and families, we look forward
to=20
having expanded access to the research we need."
"Congress has just unlocked the taxpayers' $29 billion
investment=20
in NIH," said Heather Joseph, Executive Director of
SPARC (the=20
Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, a
founding=20
member of the ATA). "This policy will directly improve
the=20
sharing of scientific findings, the pace of medical
advances, and=20
the rate of return on benefits to the taxpayer."
Joseph added, "On behalf of the Alliance for Taxpayer
Access, I=B9d=20
like to thank everyone who worked so hard over the past
several=20
years to bring about implementation of this much-needed
policy."
For more information, and a timeline detailing the evolution
of=20
the NIH Public Access Policy beginning May 2004, visit the
ATA=20
Web site at http://www.taxpayeracc
ess.org.
###
The Alliance for Taxpayer Access is a coalition of
patient,=20
academic, research, and publishing organizations that
supports=20
open public access to the results of federally funded
research.=20
The Alliance was formed in 2004 to urge that
peer-reviewed=20
articles stemming from taxpayer-funded research become
fully=20
accessible and available online at no extra cost to the
American=20
public. Details on the ATA may be found at=20
http://www.taxpayeracc
ess.org.
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