Open Access News

News from the open access movement


Friday, February 08, 2008

Past and future of the NIH public access policy

Ray English and Heather Joseph, The NIH mandate: An open access landmark, College & Research Libraries News, February 2008. Contains a discussion of the NIH public access policy, including its history, library community involvement, opposition, next steps and implications. See especially this paragraph on the impact of the NIH policy:
The NIH mandate should provide a strong impetus for the implementation of similar policies by other U.S. government agencies, by governments and governmental agencies in other countries, and by additional private research funders. It should also encourage further consideration of the Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA), which was introduced into the U.S. Senate in May 2006. The mandate is a critical step in the ongoing effort to establish public access to all funded research worldwide.
Comment. This seems to have been written before the NIH announced its implementation: "It is expected that the agency will create and make public an implementation plan within the first six months of 2008." In fact, the NIH made its plan public on January 11.