A little over two months ago, CIHR launched an important initiative to promote the dissemination of research products developed using CIHR funds (i.e., research materials, data and published results). By ensuring the widest possible access to research products and knowledge, we aim to maximize the impact of publicly funded research....
The good practices that NIH requires should also apply to CIHR-funded research. We see the development of CIHR policy as emphasizing and encouraging the "culture of sharing" within the Canadian research community, that Dr. Arthur Carty, National Science Advisor, referred to in his November 2005 article, A global information system needs a culture of sharing....
I would like to thank everyone who submitted comments through our online survey. I was pleased with the number of responses and the range of groups that provided feedback. We heard from not only from those directly involved, including researchers, administrators, libraries and journal editors, but also from stakeholders such as health charities, industry and other government agencies. There was overwhelming support for greater accessibility to the broad categories of research products that we identified. In addition, we received many valuable comments and suggestions from individuals who were willing to share their vast knowledge in this area. Below are some of the key themes that emerged from the survey.
Increased accessibility is the goal and this can be achieved while protecting intellectual property;
Make efforts to limit restrictions on sharing products of research;
Strong support for sharing research data, particularly data that has been accepted by peer-reviewed publications; and
Self-archiving of publications was encouraged.
CIHR will be posting a summary of the survey results in the next few weeks....Over the coming months, CIHR will be working on the development of a draft policy. We anticipate having a draft completed by the summer, at which time it will be posted on our web site for consultation. If you have any questions, please contact Geoff Hynes, Research Officer to the President at ghynes@cihr-irsc.gc.ca or (613) 952-8965.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 6/19/2006 11:24:00 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.
