Federal funds for academic research [in the US] rose by 13.1 percent in 2003, the second straight year of double-digit increases, the National Science Foundation reported on Wednesday. The growth, coupled with a continuing drop in funds from industry, fueled an increase in the federal share of academic-research money to nearly 62 percent, its highest level since 1985. The numbers come from the NSF's annual "Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges." The survey is based on figures from the 2003 fiscal year, the most recent data reported by the agency.
Comment. If the US required OA to publicly-funded research (with reasonable exceptions e.g. for classified research), then we'd see a steady growth in the "market share" for OA to match the steady shift toward publicly-funded research. This may be an obvious point, but unfortunately it needs repeating. The NSF survey quantifies a continuing lost opportunity to accelerate research, increase the return on public investment, and serve the public interest.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 7/21/2005 07:38:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
