Scientists who receive subsidies from the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) must make their scientific publications available on the internet. That is the view of prominent library directors and scientists. Minister Plasterk (Science, [Dutch Labor Party]) agrees with them on "the principle that all research funded by public money should be accessible to everyone."
Each year NWO distributes 550 million Euros of public money, being the main funder of scientific research in the Netherlands. ...
Bas Savenije, director general of the National Library of the Netherlands in The Hague, and former director of Utrecht University says "if health centres and GPs asked me 'can you give us access to recent scientific literature’ I must tell them that the scientific publishers do not allow us to. It would be wonderful if we were able to grant access to patient associations, college programmes, training centres and SMEs”. Savenije wants NWO to grant their subsidies on the condition that scientific publications are accessible. ...
NWO does not set the condition of public access. In other countries important research financiers do so ... NWO has made it known “in principle to be in favour of open access".
Plasterk is Minister for Education, Culture and Science in the current Dutch government.
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.
