I've been working on a story for Wired News about the debate over open access to scientific and medical journals (see previous posts here). Yesterday, I talked with a spokesman for Senator John Cornyn (R.-Texas, who said his boss will be reintroducing a bill that would require federally funded research to be made available to the public for free.
The bill didn't make it out of committee last year, but it definitely ruffled the feathers of journal publishers, several of whom have united in an effort to quash the legislation. Spokesman John Drogan said Cornyn "definitely plans to reintroduce something."
I'm trying to get a comment from Senator Cornyn...or Senator Joe Lieberman (I.-Connecticut), who co-sponsored the legislation. If they're not available, I'd like to hear from their staffs about why this issue is important to them and whether prospects for the legislation's passage are any better this year.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 2/22/2007 09:05:00 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.
