Nobel Prize-winning scientists urge Congress to act on Federal Research Public Access Act
Nobel Prize-winning scientists urge Congress to act to ensure free
online access to federally funded research results
Washington, DC – “For America to obtain an optimal return on our
investment in science, publicly funded research must be shared as
broadly as possible,” is the message that forty one Nobel Prize-
winning scientists in medicine, physics, and chemistry gave to
Congress in an open letter delivered yesterday. The letter marks the
fourth time in five years that leading scientists have called on
Congress to ensure free, timely access to the results of federally
funded research – this time asking leaders to support the Federal
Research Public Access Act of 2009 (S.1373).
The Nobel Prize-winners write:
“As the pursuit of science is increasingly conducted in a digital
world, we need policies that ensure that the opportunities the
Internet presents for new research tools and techniques to be employed
can be fully exploited. The removal of access barriers and the
enabling of expanded use of research findings has the potential to
dramatically transform how we approach issues of vital importance to
the public, such as biomedicine, climate change, and energy research.
As scientists, and as taxpayers too, we support FRPAA and urge its
passage.”
The bi-partisan Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA), introduced
by Senators Lieberman (I-CT) and Cornyn (R-TX), would deliver online
public access to the published results of research funded through
eleven U.S. agencies and departments, requiring that peer-reviewed
journal articles stemming from publicly funded research be made
available in an online repository no later than six months after
publication.
The Nobelists note that enabling access to this information would be
an important contribution in fostering innovation and fueling positive
economic and social returns:
“The open availability of federally funded research for broad public
use in open online archives is a crucial building block in laying a
strong national foundation to support accelerated discovery and
innovation. It encourages broader participation in the scientific
process by providing equitable access to high-quality research results
to researchers at higher education institutions of all kinds – from
research-intensive universities to community colleges alike. It can
empower more members of the public to become engaged in citizen
science efforts in areas that pique their imagination. It will equip
entrepreneurs and small business owners with the very latest research
developments, allowing them to more effectively compete in the
development of new technologies and innovations. Open availability of
this research will expand the worldwide visibility of the research
conducted in the U.S. and increase the impact of our collective
investment in research.”
The full text of the letter is online at http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/supporters/scientists
.
The Federal Research Public Access Act would build upon the success of
the first U.S. requirement for public access to publicly funded
research, through the National Institutes of Health. It is widely
supported by a broad set of stakeholders, including: scientists,
higher education leaders, librarians, consumer and economic groups
(including the Committee on Economic Development), technology
companies (including Amazon.com, Ask.com, Bloomberg, eBay, Google,
Yahoo!, and state and local ISPs), publishers, patients and patient
advocates, and major national and regional research organizations. For
full details on support for the Act, visit http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/frpaa
.
