Open Access News

News from the open access movement


Sunday, March 30, 2008

Call for additional comments on the NIH policy

Request for Information: NIH Public Access Policy, a new call for public comments, March 28, 2008.  Excerpt:

With this notice, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requests input from the community regarding the NIH Policy on Enhancing Public Access to Archived Publications Resulting From NIH-Funded Research (NIH Public Access Policy). An identical notice is being issued via the Federal Register on March 31, 2008 (URL coming soon).  Complete and detailed information about the law at Division G, Title II, Section 218 of PL 110-161 (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008), the NIH Public Access Policy, and implementation procedures issued to date are available [here].  

This request for information (RFI) seeks input on the Public Access Policy as described on the above website.  This RFI will be active from March 31, 2008 to May 31, 2008 on [this web page].  The NIH will post analysis and results from this RFI for public view [here] by September 30, 2008....

The NIH is seeking to engage formally with the broader community on the Public Access Policy in a transparent and participatory manner.  The first step of this process was an open meeting, conducted March 20, 2008 (announced in the March 10, 2008 Federal Register notice 73 FR 12745).  Comments collected to date, can be found [here].  The NIH intends to make comments publicly available as they are collected; and, to facilitate independent analysis, the NIH will make comments available for download in bulk at the end of the comment period....

NIH will consider all comments and suggestions regarding the Public Access Policy.  Among other issues, the NIH is particularly interested in information about the following:

  • Do you have recommendations for alternative implementation approaches to those already reflected in the NIH Public Access Policy?
  • In light of the change in law that makes NIH’s public access policy mandatory, do you have recommendations for monitoring and ensuring compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy?
  • In addition to the information already posted [here], what additional information, training or communications related to the NIH Public Access Policy would be helpful to you? ...

Individuals, groups, and organizations interested in responding may do so in their discretion at [this] NIH Web site....

Update.  Submit your comments through this web form (before 5:00 pm EST, May 31, 2008), and view the comments already submitted.