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From: Diane Goldenberg-Hart <diane@cni.org>
Subject: Free Access to Federal Research

For immediate release=09
October 25, 2006

For more information, contact:
Jennifer McLennan
SPARC
jennifer@arl.org
(202) 296-2296 ext. 121


HIGHER EDUCATION AND LIBRARY LEADERS
VOICE SUPPORT FOR FREE ACCESS TO FEDERAL RESEARCH

Washington, DC =96 In remarks at a forum on =93Improving Access to =
Publicly=20
Funded Research,=94 leaders of major higher education and library=20
organizations voiced their support for the goals of recent measures to=20=

expand public access to research funded by the US Government. The forum=20=

was co-sponsored by Association of American Universities (AAU),=20
Association of Research Libraries (ARL), Coalition for Networked=20
Information (CNI), National Association of State Universities and=20
Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and=20
Academic Resources Coalition).

=93I fully support the aims and the specifics of the Cornyn/Lieberman=20
Federal Research Public Access Act [FRPAA],=94 said David Shulenburger,=20=

Vice President for Academic Affairs of NASULGC. Introduced last May,=20
FRPAA (S.2695) would require all US federal agencies that fund over=20
$100 million on external research to ensure the resulting peer-reviewed=20=

research articles are available free on the Internet within six months=20=

of publication. =93Scholars and the public are on the right side of this=20=

matter. Cornyn/Lieberman should become law.=94

Shulenburger rejected claims by some publishers that open access to=20
research articles after a six-month embargo, called for by FRPAA, will=20=

undermine journals and the peer review they orchestrate. =93We now have=20=

significant experience with journals that voluntarily have permitted=20
articles they published to be made available for free after delay=20
periods ranging from zero delay to one year=92s and that evidence is not=20=

consistent with an apocalyptic collapse of the subscriber base.=94 He=20
added, =93These journals would not have taken that step voluntarily had=20=

they been overly concerned about catastrophic loss of subscribers.=94

John Vaughn, Executive Vice President of AAU, reiterated his=20
organization=92s support of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)=20
Public Access Policy that makes the results of NIH-funded research=20
freely available. He said he prefers non-legislative means of improving=20=

access to federal research, such as NIH is pursuing, but noted that the=20=

prospect of a legislative solution has motivated positive movement by=20
publishers that otherwise might not have been forthcoming.

Commenting on the growing numbers of university administrators who have=20=

spoken out recently in support of public access legislation, SPARC=20
Executive Director Heather Joseph noted that they consider public=20
access =93mission critical=94 to advancing the goals of higher education=20=

institutions.

ARL Executive Director Duane Webster said, =93The research library=20
community vigorously advocates passage of FRPAA. This legislation is an=20=

essential step toward broadening access to widely needed information=20
resources.=94

Librarians from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the=20=

University of California (UC) highlighted local efforts to aid faculty=20=

in retaining rights to deposit their works in open online archives.  UC=20=

is contemplating a system-wide policy that would routinely grant to the=20=

university =93a limited, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, =
non-exclusive=20
license to place in a non-commercial open-access online repository the=20=

faculty member=92s scholarly work published in a scholarly journal or=20
conference proceedings.=94 MIT has developed an addendum that authors of=20=

journal articles can use to amend journal publishers=92 copyright=20
transfer agreements and secure open-archiving rights.

Commenting on the issue of rights management, CNI Executive Director=20
Clifford Lynch said =93universities need to take seriously the=20
asymmetrical nature of negotiations=94 when faculty members face=20
publishers on copyright transfer agreements. =93Universities will do =
well=20
to follow the lead of MIT and UC and provide institutional support for=20=

faculty negotiations. If universities negotiate on behalf of faculty=20
this also helps publishers ultimately by reducing the number of special=20=

agreements and thus benefits the entire scholarly publishing system in=20=

the end.=94

Papers and slides from speakers at the forum are available at=20
http://www.arl.org/forum06/

###

Additional links:
=95	Forum remarks by David Shulenburger:=20
http://www.arl.org/forum06/shulenburger.pdf
=95	Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA):=20
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.2695:
=95	List of higher education supporters of FRPAA:=20
http://www.arl.org/sparc/advocacy/frpaa/institutions.html
=95	AAU Statement on the NIH Public Access Proposal:=20
http://www.aau.edu/issues/NIHPubAccProp.pdf
=95	NIH Public Access Policy: http://publicaccess.nih.gov/

ARL
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization=20=

of 123 research libraries in North America. Its mission is to influence=20=

the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public=20
policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities=20
they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its=20
member research libraries, providing leadership in public and=20
information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities,=20
fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, and shaping a future=20
environment that leverages its interests with those of allied=20
organizations. ARL is located on the Web at http://www.arl.org/

SPARC
SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) and SPARC=20=

Europe are an international alliance of academic and research libraries=20=

and organizations working to correct imbalances in the scholarly=20
publishing system. SPARC=92s advocacy, educational, and publisher=20
partnership programs encourage expanded dissemination of research.=20
SPARC is on the Web at http://www.arl.org/sparc/


***********************************************
Diane Goldenberg-Hart
Communications Coordinator
Coalition for Networked Information
21 Dupont Circle, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036
202-296-5098
202-872-0884 (Fax)
diane@cni.org