FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STM comments on U. S. National Institutes of Health Unfunded
Mandate
OXFORD, UK, 4 JANUARY 2008 - STM today expressed
disappointment
with the recent passage of legislation in the United States.
This
legislation (the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2007
(H.R.
2764)) includes provisions directing the National Institutes
of
Health to mandate that investigators who are supported by
grants
from the National Institutes of Health must deposit their
manuscripts directly into the National Library of Medicine's
PubMed Central database no later than 12 months after the
official date of publication.
The legislation neither provides compensation for the
added-value
of services that these manuscripts have received from
publishers
nor does it earmark funds to ensure the economic
sustainability
of the broad and systematic archiving this sort of project
requires. It also undermines a key intellectual property
right
known as copyright - long a cornerstone used to foster
creativity
and innovation.
STM believes that this legislation establishes an unfunded
government mandate with an unknown impact on the advancement
of
science and puts at risk a system which has enabled more
research
to be available to more scientists in more countries than at
any
point in the history of science.
STM CEO Michael Mabe commented, "Other governmental
bodies, such
as the European Commission, have recognized the unique role
and
extensive investments made by scientific publishers in the
organization of peer review, the management of publication
processes, the production, access, distribution,
preservation and
digitization of scientific knowledge. They have called for
an
evidence-based approach toward questions like the broad and
systematic archiving of scientific manuscripts to ensure
that the
current system of scientific publishing is not destabilized
without reason. Regrettably, neither the acknowledgement of
the
key role that publishers play in the advancement of science,
nor
the commitment toward an evidence-based approach, nor the
funding
to support this broad mandate seems present in the current
U.S.
legislation."
Mabe continued: "STM publishers will, of course,
comply with the
laws of the nations in which they operate. At the same time,
in
order to fulfill their primary mission of maximizing the
dissemination of knowledge through economically
self-sustaining
business models, they will continue a vigorous engagement
with
appropriate stakeholders on issues such as this where
legislative
change seems necessary or desirable."
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STM is an international association of about 100 scientific,
technical, medical and scholarly publishers, collectively
responsible for more than 60% of the global annual output of
research articles, 55% of the active research journals and
the
publication of tens of thousands of print and electronic
books,
reference works and databases. We are the only international
trade association equally representing all types of STM
publishers - large and small companies, not for profit
organizations, learned societies, traditional, primary,
secondary
publishers and new entrants to global publishing.
For further information, please contact:
Michael Mabe, STM
email mabe stm-assoc.org or
phone +44 1865 339321
Janice E. Kuta
Director of Marketing & Membership
International Association of Scientific, Technical &
Medical Publishers
E-mail: kutastm-assoc.org
Tel: 212-533-0832=20
Fax: 212-420-8407
www.stm-assoc.org
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