Action

Watch for opportunities or recent progress involving:

• NIH Public Access Policy
• Federal Research Public Access Act
• International Public Access Policies

• Students

Background

Mandatory public access to federally funded research does not violate copyright obligations (PDF)

Enhanced Access to the Published Results of NIH Research Will Benefit Science, the Economy and Human Health (PDF)

More resources...

 

 

What is “Taxpayer Access”?

Access to scientific and medical publications has lagged behind the wide reach of the Internet into U.S. homes and institutions. Subscription barriers limit U.S. taxpayer access to research that has been paid for with public funds. Taxpayer access removes these barriers by making the peer-reviewed results of taxpayer-funded research available online, and for no extra charge to the American public. To achieve this, the ATA supports applying the developing practices of Open Access as defined by the Budapest Open Access Initiative in February 2002.

A diverse and growing alliance of organizations representing taxpayers, patients, physicians, researchers, and institutions that support open public access to taxpayer-funded research.

Statement of Principles:

1. American taxpayers are entitled to open access on the Internet to the peer-reviewed scientific articles on research funded by the U.S. Government.
2. Widespread access to the information contained in these articles is an essential, inseparable component of our nation's investment in science.
3. This and other scientific information should be shared in cost-effective ways that take advantage of the Internet, stimulate further discovery and innovation, and advance the translation of this knowledge into public benefits.
4. Enhanced access to and expanded sharing of information will lead to usage by millions of scientists, professionals, and individuals, and will deliver an accelerated return on the taxpayers' investment.

	Add this button to your Web site and show your support for taxpayer access to federally funded research.

Recent News:

(July 25, 2008)
Guidance for researchers on the NIH Public Access Policy
[PDF] An article by Norka Ruis Bravo, in the July newsletter of the American Society for Cell Biology

(July 15, 2008) PubMed up for public service award
Subscription required

(July 11, 2008) NIH Public Access Policy Does Not Affect U.S. Copyright Law
In response to the NIH’s second request for information and public comment on the revised, mandatory public access policy, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) commissioned a legal brief to attempt to raise additional questions about the policy. The brief falsely asserts that the NIH policy amends U.S. copyright law and adversely affects current international trade agreements. To make clear the misleading nature of AAP’s assertions, and to help reiterate that the NIH policy has no affect on U.S. copyright law or international trade, SPARC and ARL, with advice from legal counsel, have prepared a detailed response to AAP’s arguments.

(July 10, 2008) Crowdsourcing the Flu Vaccine

(June 23, 2008) Creator of PubMed Central BioMedical Research Database Recognized for Outstanding Citizen Service - Dr. David Lipman a finalist for prestigious 2008 Service to America Medal

(June 3, 2008) SPARC response to NIH, in response to call for public comment. [PDF] We commend NIH’s extensive efforts to seek input from the full range of stakeholders throughout the public access policy development process. We believe the agency’s overall response to constructive input has been commendable and that a fundamentally workable policy has resulted from the consultative process. We offer these further comments in order to demonstrate the strategic soundness and overall balance of the policy, and to underscore our community’s continued willingness to work with NIH to ensure that the benefits of this policy may be fully realized by all stakeholders...

(May 7, 2008) NIH Updates its Public Access Policy FAQ

(April 15, 2008) Harold Varmus talks about the NIH policy on NPR's Science Friday
The Nobel Prize winner discusses the new NIH Public Access Policy with host Ira Flatow.

Be sure to check our Media page for news on the latest developments in public access.

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