| |  | NEWS ARTICLE | | | | Senior academic officers oppose US public access legislation Senior academic officers from 10 institutions in the US have expressed their concern on the provisions of a new legislation, called the 'Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006.' These institutions, which collectively make nearly $3 billion in annual research investments, have stated that mandating a six-month public release of journal articles would negatively impact the academic community and the publishers that disseminate their work.
The institutions have pointed out that the mandate may force some journals to shift to a publication model, requiring authors to pay for their publications through their Federal grants, thereby diminishing funds available for research. In addition, they fear that the legislation would damage the special relationship between scholarly societies and academic communities. The two are seen to work in partnership to ensure that these communities are sustained and extended, science is advanced, research meets the highest standards, and patient care is enhanced with accurate and timely information.
The letter, dated September 22, 2006, was signed by representatives of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine; University of Chicago; University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; SUNY Upstate Medical University; Children's Memorial Research Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; NYS Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences; University of Tennessee Health Science Center; University of California; Oregon Health and Sciences University; and the University of Tennessee System. | | | |