ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
Volume 13, Number 93
November 15, 2004

In This Issue: Reminder:  Action Needed Now - Comments due Nov. 16 to NIH on proposal on public access to research

On September 3, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a proposed plan to make research articles based on NIH funding available to the public free of charge.  These articles would be publicly available in NIH's PubMed Central (PMC) within six months after their publication in a peer-reviewed journal.  NIH has requested public comment on the plan prior to November 16, 2004.  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-04-064.html 

Many organizations have expressed strong support for the NIH proposal, including various members of the Alliance for Taxpayer Access, to which ALA belongs http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/NIH.html; the Association of American Universities; the Association of Independent Research Institutes; and the National Academy of Sciences http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/s09162004?OpenDocument.  However, there is vigorous opposition from some parts of the publishing community, hence ALA urges libraries and individuals in the library community to provide their views to NIH.  As set out in the September 3rd notice, your comments can be submitted through a simple web form, http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/public_access/add.htm 

Despite the often misleading statements offered by its opponents, the NIH proposal is a well-reasoned, incremental step that carefully balances the interests of all the stakeholders.  Frequently Asked Questions about the NIH proposal are available from NIH http://www.nih.gov/about/publicaccess/index.htm, the Alliance for Taxpayer Access http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/NIH.html, and from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) http://www.arl.org/info/publicaccess/ARLFAQ.html.  ALA has submitted its letter of support.  

Please act now to give your support to this very important effort.  


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