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OA to publicly-funded research in Germany
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation, DFG) has adopted Open Access Guidelines that encourage grantees to provide OA to DFG-funded research. (Thanks to Ingegerd Rabow.) From the press release (January 30, 2006):
In 2003 the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) signed the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities. The DFG supports the culture of open access. Unhindered access to publications increases the distribution of scientific knowledge, thereby enhancing the authors' visibility and contributing to their reputations. Comment. It's a breakthrough for the DFG to incorporate its commitment to OA into its funding policy. On the other hand, it's ironic that it has proposed a policy like the NIH's, which merely encourages grantees to make their work OA, at a time when the NIH is documenting that mere encouragement does not work. I hope the DFG will read the NIH's January 2006 report to Congress, in which it shows that only 3.8% of its grantees have complied with its request or encouragement in the first eight months under the policy. The most effective way to assure OA to the results of DFG-funded research is to mandate it. Two good examples are the draft RCUK policy, not yet adopted, and the Wellcome Trust policy, in effect since October 2005. |