Phys.org August 31, 2022
As per the guidance, all U.S. federal agencies must put in place policies and plans so anyone anywhere can immediately and freely access the peer-reviewed publications and data arising from research they fund. It may act as a catalyst for more policy changes globally. The new OSTP guidance emphasizes the primary intention is for the US public to have immediate access to research funded by their tax dollars. Even academics at well-funded universities can access only journals for which their universities have subscription. Last year, estimates suggested some 2 million research articles were published. People outside a university must pay for access. The lack of public access leads to “discrimination and structural inequalities… [that] prevent some communities from reaping the rewards of the scientific and technological advancements. Furthermore, lack of access leads to mistrust in research. In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the calls for publishers to make COVID-19 publications open to all not all publishers did. However, the CORD-19 database was one of the databases of openly available papers ever assembled. With the current spread of monkeypox, we are potentially facing another global emergency. In August this year, the White House called for publishers to make relevant research open…read more.