The federal Government has promised not to "interfere improperly" in the scholarly work of the CSIRO [Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation], but new charters for public research agencies also warn scientists not to trespass on the politicians' policy turf.
Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Minister Kim Carr said it was the first time that the liberties and duties of these agencies had been set out in charter form....
The CSIRO charter endorses "open communication and dissemination of the findings of research" as a general principle, but makes this subject to contractual arrangements or other legal or moral obligations.
The Government defers to its agencies as independent managers of research dissemination, allowing them to strike a balance between open access to knowledge and commercial exploitation of research results....
Asked about the tension between open access and commercialisation, Senator Carr said: "I have a preference for encouraging the highest levels possible of open access (but) there are some commercial implications in terms of IP that we are still examining (for the innovation white paper)."
Broadly similar charters have been signed with the CSIRO, the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
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.
