Nobel Winners, Library Groups Voice Support for Open Access at NIH

-- Library Journal, 09/07/2004

Calling the House Appropriation Committee’s direction to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop an open access policy for its publicly-funded research an “enlightened policy” and a “long overdue reform,” 25 Nobel Prize winners have signed a letter to Congress supporting the plan. The letter is the latest salvo in an increasingly contentious debate over the future of scientific research publication and government’s role in it, with publishers lining up against the plan.

Also, four library groups also wrote to NIH director Elias Zerhouni to further voice their support. The Association of Research Libraries, the American Association of Law Libraries, the American Library Association, and the Special Libraries Association emphasized the difficulty libraries have had in keeping up with serials inflation. “At a time when a single journal subscription can cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars per year—and library users need access to thousands of journals—not even the largest research libraries can provide the research needed by scientists and other users,” the groups said. “Despite the promise of the Internet and information technologies, the situation is deteriorating with each passing year.” The House Appropriations Committee has given the NIH until December to present a plan for offering open access to NIH funded-research.