If you remember, in January 2004 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued its Declaration on Access to Research Data From Public Funding. Thirty-four signatory nations declared their "commitment to...work towards the establishment of access regimes for digital research data from public funding in accordance with" a set of principles that included "openness".
Here's my boiled down version of the new Recommendation: we (the OECD) should offer further guidance for national policy; member nations should adopt open data policies; we should review their progress; and we should keep our recommendations up to date with new technologies and research practices. Excerpt:
Recognising the wide range of benefits that arise from improving international access to, and use of, publicly funded research data....
Recognising that improved access to research data will increase the value derived from public investments in data collection, management and preservation;
Recognising that undue restrictions on access to, and use of, research data from public funding diminish the quality and efficiency of research and innovation;
Recognising that enhanced availability of research data from public funding for developing economies will enhance their participation in the global research system, thereby contributing to their social and economic development; ...
RECOMMENDS that Member countries take into consideration the Principles and Guidelines on Access to Research Data from Public Funding set out in the annex to this Recommendation [below] ... to develop policies and good practices related to the accessibility, use and management of research data;
INSTRUCTS the Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy to review the implementation of this Recommendation as necessary;
INSTRUCTS the Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy to review the Principles and Guidelines on Access to Research Data from Public Funding and when appropriate, to take into account advances in technology and research practices, with the intention of further fostering international co-operation.
The document then includes a lengthy section entitled, Principles And Guidelines For Access To Research Data From Public Funding, which spells out 13 principles for member nations to try to fulfill. The first is "openness": "Openness means access on equal terms for the international research community at the lowest possible cost, preferably at no more than the marginal cost of dissemination. Open access to research data from public funding should be easy, timely, user-friendly and preferably Internet-based."
Posted by
Peter Suber at 4/05/2007 06:25:00 PM.
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.
