Right to Research Coalition - Take Action

General Assembly 2013

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 23:08:01 UT

Register | Details | Schedule & Agenda | Logistics

Register

Registration for the General Assembly is now open! Registration is required to attend the GA, and you can register by visiting our registration page.

Want to get more involved? We will also be organizing a leadership retreat and advocacy training session immediately following the GA on the afternoon of August 4th and the morning of August 5th. This additional day will focus on implementing action items coming out of the GA and building advocacy skills with expert trainers. If you're interested in attending this additional day, please register here.

Details

The Right to Research Coalition will host its second General Assembly this summer from August 2nd through 4th in Budapest at the European Youth Centre. The meeting will convene leaders of student organizations from around the world to chart the future of student efforts promoting Open Access.

Date and location: August 2nd through the 4th at the European Youth Center in Budapest, Hungary. Participants are encouraged to arrive at the venue by 1:00pm on the 2nd as the meeting will begin in the early afternoon of that day. Likewise, participants should try to depart Budapest in the late afternoon of the 4th (after 3:00pm) as there will be morning sessions on the last day.

Who should attend? All Right to Research Coalition members are encouraged to send one to two delegates to the General Assembly; however, a number of additional slots will likely be available for organizations interested in sending more delegates. Please contact nick [at] arl [dot] org if your organization is interested in sending more delegates and hasn't already made arrangements to do so.

Cost: The suggested participation fee is $145 (approximately €110) and will cover full room and board. If your organization cannot cover the fee on your behalf, there is an option to waive the fee at registration. We don't expect individual participants to cover this fee out of pocket.

Funding assistance: Attendees are asked to cover as much of their own expenses as possible (including travel costs and the participation fee); however, we don't want cost to discourage members from attending the GA, so the Right to Research Coalition will have funding available as a supplement for those who require it. To request funding assistance, please get in contact with us by sending an email to nick [at] arl [dot] org.

Program and speakers: The program and speakers will be confirmed over the coming weeks. Sessions will cover topics such as national and international Open Access advocacy, campus advocacy, best practices on engagement and peer-to-peer education, working with professional societies, Open Access Week 2013, and more. After you've registered, you will receive an email once the program is announced.

Format: Our goal at the General Assembly is to foster discussion among the coalition members, share success stories and ideas, and build a vision for the future role of students in making Open Access a reality. As such, most of the sessions will be discussion-based with a panel seeding the conversation. Also, the meeting will be limited to a smaller number of participants to allow for more effective discussion, so expect to know everyone by the end of the GA!

Schedule & Agenda

The schedule and agenda for the General Assembly will be decided by a small programming committee of R2RC members. Once confirmed, the program for the GA will be posted here and emailed to all the participants. To propose workshops or topics to be covered, email nick [at] arl [dot] org.

Logistics

Venue: The meeting and accommodations will be at the European Youth Centre Budapest, located at 1024 Budapest, Zivatar utca 1-3. Hungary.

View The Right to Research Coalition General Assembly 2012 in a larger map

Travel to and from the European Youth Centre: you can find directions for how to get to and from the GA conference venue on the Europe Youth Centre's website here. You will have to arrange your own travel to and from the meeting; however, the EYC is centrally located and easily accessible by public transportation.

Emergency Contact: If you have any urgent problems, you can reach the coalition's director and meeting organizer at any time at +1 615 400 1449. For less urgent matters, he can be reached at nick [at] arl [dot] org.

NAGPS & Open Access

Sat, 03 Nov 2012 23:51:59 UT

Save the Date: 2012 Right to Research Coalition General Assembly

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:50:08 UT

The Right to Research Coalition will host its first-ever General Assembly this summer from July 19th through the 21st in Budapest at the European Youth Centre. The meeting will convene leaders of student organizations from around the world to chart the future of student efforts promoting Open Access.

Date and location: July 19th through the 21st at the European Youth Center in Budapest, Hungary. Participants are encouraged to arrive by 1:00pm on the 19th as the meeting will begin in the early afternoon of that day. Likewise, participants should try to depart Budapest in the late afternoon of the 21st (after 3:00pm) as there will be morning sessions on the last day.

Who should attend? All Right to Research Coalition members are encouraged to send one delegate to the General Assembly; however, a number of additional slots will likely be available for organizations interested in sending more than one delegate.

Cost: The participation fee will be approximately €110 and will cover full room and board. Attendees are asked to cover as much of their own expenses as possible (including travel and the participation fee); however, the Right to Research Coalition will have funding available as a supplement for those who require it.

To help us get an accurate gauge of how much travel assistance will be needed, please begin the process of securing travel funding as soon as possible, and let us know how much assistance you’re likely to need.

Program and speakers: The program and speakers will be confirmed over the coming weeks. Sessions will cover topics such as national and international Open Access advocacy, campus advocacy, best practices on engagement and peer-to-peer education, working with professional societies, Open Access Week 2012, and more.

Registration: Registration for the conference will open in the next two weeks. In the meantime, please fill out the brief questionnaire below which will help greatly in the planning process.

You will receive an email at the address entered in the form above when registration opens, and we look forward to seeing you in Budapest this summer! If you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, please email nick [at] arl [dot] org.

Major Media Coverage of FRPAA & RWA

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:11:52 UT

January 5, 2012
The Atlantic - Why Is Open-Internet Champion Darrell Issa Supporting an Attack on Open Science?

January 6, 2012
Wired - Congress Considers Paywalling Science You Already Paid For

January 7, 2012
Scientific American - The Research Works Act would deny taxpayers access to federally funded research.

January 10, 2012
The New York Times - Research Bought, Then Paid For

January 16, 2012
The Guardian - Academic publishers have become the enemies of science
The New York Times - Cracking Open the Scientific Process

January 22, 2012
The Chronicle of Higher Education - Who Gets to See Published Research?
The New York Times - Should Research Be More Freely Available?

January 26, 2012
The Huffington Post - SOPA's Killer Cousin You've Probably Never Heard About

January 28, 2012
Forbes - Elsevier's Publishing Model Might be About to Go Up in Smoke
The Lancet - The Research Works Act: a damaging threat to science

January 30, 2012
Wired - Testify: The Open-Science Movement Catches Fire
The Chronicle of Higher Education - Elsevier Publishing Boycott Gathers Steam Among Academics

February 1, 2012
Science Insider - Thousands of Scientists Vow to Boycott Elsevier to Protest Journal Prices

February 2, 2012
The Guardian - Scientists sign petition to boycott academic publisher Elsevier

February 4, 2012
The Economist - The price of information

February 7, 2012
The Scientist - Occupy Elsevier?

February 9, 2012
The Independent - The future of academic publishing
Slate - The Other Academic Freedom Movement
The Times Higher Education - Elsevier defends stance on anti-open-access bill
Wired - Open Science Revolt Occupies Congress

February 10, 2012
Science Insider - Lawmakers Reintroduce Public Access Bill

February 12, 2012
The Boston Globe - Why scientists are boycotting a publisher

February 13, 2012
The New York Times - Mathematicians Organize Boycott of a Publisher

If you believe we're missing an article, please send an email with details to nick [at] arl [dot] org.

Act now! Support the bipartisan Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA)

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:13:53 UT

Students! Act now to support the bipartisan Federal Research Public Access Act (S. 2096, H.R. 4004). This important legislation would provide students - and the rest of the public - with unprecedented free and timely access to all articles resulting from federally funded research.

We currently have a unique opportunity to create change. The Research Works Act, a piece of legislation introduced in December that would ban the government from providing the public access to publicly funded research, has galvanized the research community into acting against practices that restrict access to research articles – reaching the pages of the Economist, the New York Times, Wired, the Guardian, the Boston Globe, Slate, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and many other outlets.

Furthermore, the publishers of the two most prestigious scientific journals, Science and Nature, have not only opposed the Research Works Act but also endorsed the National Institutes of Health public access policy, which FRPAA would extend to the other federal science agencies.

With reinvigorated support from the research community and attention from the mainstream media, now is the time to push for this groundbreaking legislation and let Congress know that students - and the rest of the public - deserve access to the research which they paid for and upon which their education depends.

Act Now | Background | Talking Points | Resources

Act now!

Let Congress know you support FRPAA

Write your legislators, via the Right to Research Action Center
A letter of support is the best way to influence your legislators to support and co-sponsor FRPAA if they haven't already, or if they have, a letter thanking them for their leadership will go a long way in getting them to push FRPAA aggressively. Through our action center, you can send letters to your legislators directly using pre-made templates that you can add to and customize.

[NOTE: the above link will take you to the Alliance for Taxpayer Access site, which hosts the Right to Research Coalition's legislative action center]
Thank FRPAA's introducing co-sponsors
Even if you're not in their districts, it's important to thank FRPAA's introducing sponsors to let them know there is a large community of support behind the bill.
Visit your legislators' local offices
Taking the time for an in-person visit to the office of one of your legislators is an especially effective was to demonstrate your support for FRPAA, particularly if you can organize a group of students from your campus or your student organization to join you.

Raise awareness of and build support for FRPAA

Tell your friends and professors about FRPAA, encourage them to contact their legislators as well.
Sign the ATA Petition in support of FRPAA. Click here to view signatories of the petition.
Like the Right to Research Coalition Facebook page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to receive the latest news and updates. Share our call to action and updates through your own Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Tweet at or post of the Facebook wall of your legislators to ask them to support and co-sponsor FRPAA; or, if they're already a sponsor, thank them for their leadership.
Write a letter to the editor or op-ed for your campus or local newspaper. You can submit a letter to the editor directly to publications in your area through the media section of our legislative action center.
Make a brief, 5-minute presentation on FRPAA and what students can do to support it at student group meetings.
Add a "Support FRPAA" banner to your or your organization's website. You can find the banner in a variety of formats here.

Background

Now before both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Federal Research Public Access Act (S. 2096, H.R. 4004) would require those agencies with annual extramural research budgets of $100 million or more to provide the public with online access to research manuscripts stemming from such funding no later than six months after publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

This bill would revolutionize students' access to the tools necessary for a complete, up-to-date education. Even at well funded universities, students - and those who teach them - often cannot get access to significant portions of the scholarly record due to prohibitive price barriers. The vast collection of articles FRPAA would make freely available - representing a significant portion of all researched published in the United States - would provide students with an unprecedented educational resource and level the playing field for those at less wealthy institutions.

The bill specifically covers unclassified research funded by agencies including: Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation.

FRPAA reflects the growing trend among funding agencies – and college and university campuses – to leverage their investment in the conduct of research by maximizing the dissemination of results. It follows the successful path forged by the NIH’s Public Access Policy, as well as by private funders like the Wellcome Trust and campuses such as Harvard, MIT, and the University of Kansas. The bill also reflects the Obama Administration’s recent expression of interest in the potential implementation of public access policies across U.S. science and technology agencies – as indicated by the call for public comment issued by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, which closed in January.

Talking Points

Thank the sponsors for introducing FRPAA and ask your Representative and Senators to consider co-sponsoring FRPAA.
The bipartisan bill, which was introduced in the Senate by Senators Cornyn (R-TX), Wyden (D-OR), and Hutchison (R-TX) and in the House by Representatives Doyle (D-PA), Yoder (R-KS), and Clay (D-MO) would ensure that the published results of research funded by the U.S. government can be accessed and used by American taxpayers via the Internet.
Because of often-high subscription prices and shrinking library budgets, students routinely run into barriers accessing research articles - especially those at less wealthy institutions. The bill will significantly expand the access that students - and those who teach them - have to the up-to-date research that forms the building blocks of our education, from the core to the cutting edge.
By improving undergraduate and graduate education, FRPAA will benefit students when it comes to putting their educations to use after graduation. Students will be better able to hit the ground running in their careers and contribute immediately in both the public and private sectors.
America's future economic competitiveness will rely on workers with an advanced education in fields like biotechnology and clean energy that depend on unfettered access to the research literature.
Widespread access to the information contained in these manuscripts is an essential, inseparable component of our nation's investment in science. This and other scientific information should be shared in cost-effective ways that take advantage of the Internet, stimulate further discovery and innovation, and advance the translation of this knowledge into public benefits.
Open online access to research will ensure maximum discovery, use and re-use of available research – making possible an unprecedented variety of potential connections and discoveries, and improve the lives and welfare of people in the U.S. and around the world.
[Detail why public access to research is important to you or your organization.]

Resources

Thank FRPAA's introducing co-sponsors

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:50:26 UT

Please take a few moments to thank FRPAA's introducing co-sponsors for their leadership on public access, even if you don't live in their district. A strong showing of support from our community will help embolden our champions to lobby their colleagues in Congress aggressively for FRPAA's passage. Contact information for each of our introducing sponsors is below.

You can thank the sponsors in a number of ways. First and foremost, you can use our template thank you letter to create your own which you can submit to the offices either through their webforms (you can use the address of their district office as a stand-in if you don't live in their district) or by faxing it. You can also post a short thank you to their Facebook page or on Twitter. Finally, you can call the sponsors' offices to let them know you appreciate their support for public access.

Senate

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)
@JohnCornyn; Facebook page
http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactForm (using zipcode 78212-7200)
Fax: 202-228-2856
Phone: 202-224-2934

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)
@RonWyden; Facebook page
http://wyden.senate.gov/contact
Fax: 202-228-2717
Phone: 202-224-5244

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
@kaybaileyhutch; Facebook page
http://hutchison.senate.gov/?p=email_kay
Fax: 202-224-0776
Phone: 202-224-5922

House

Representative Mike Doyle (D-PA)
@USRepMikeDoyle; Facebook page
https://doyle.house.gov/contact/email-me.shtml
Fax: 202-225-3084
Phone: 202-225-2135

Representative Kevin Yoder (R-KS)
@RepKevinYoder; Facebook page
https://yoderforms.house.gov/email-me
Fax: 202-225-2807
Phone: 202-225-2865

Representative Lacy Clay (D-MO)
Facebook page
http://lacyclay.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=90&sectiontree=3,90
Fax: 202-226-3717
Phone: 202-225-2406

Template FRPAA Sponsor Thank You Letter

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:49:25 UT

[Your name & address]

[Date]

[Legislator's Address]

[Legislator's Fax number, if faxed]

Dear Senator / Representative ,

I am writing to applaud your leadership in introducing [S. 2096 OR H.R. 4004], "The Federal Research Public Access Act of 2012." This important legislation will ensure that students – and the rest of the public – have free and timely access to articles reporting of the results of government-funded research projects.

[Add information about you or your organization and why public access is important to you specifically.]

Due to often-high subscription prices and shrinking library budgets, students – and the professors who teach us – often run into barriers when trying to access research articles, a large portion of which are underwritten with our tax dollars. Your bill will significantly expand students’ access to the research articles that form the building blocks of our education – from the core to the cutting edge. By improving undergraduate and graduate education, FRPAA will provide students the up-to-date training we need to hit the ground running after graduation and will equip the United States with the highly skilled workforce necessary to compete in a 21st century economy.

Thank you for your leadership on the important issue of public access to federally funded research. Please don’t hesitate to let me know how our community can be of assistance in building support for [S. 2096 OR H.R. 4004]. We look forward to working with you to secure its passage.

Sincerely,

[your name]

cc. [your representative – see www.house.gov]

EIFL Student Webcast January 31, 2012

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:17:33 UT

Draft Letter Text - Oppose H.R. 3699

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:51:27 UT

[PLEASE ADAPT]

Subject: I oppose H.R. 3699

Dear Representative,

On behalf of [your organization], I am writing to strongly oppose H.R. 3699, the “Research Works Act," introduced on December 16, and referred to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. This bill would prohibit federal agencies from conditioning their grant funding to require that all members of the public be guaranteed online access to the products of the research that their tax dollars fund. This bill will deny students guaranteed access to cutting-edge research upon which their education depends, and significantly inhibit our ability to advance scientific discovery and stimulate innovation in all scientific disciplines.

Most critically, H.R. 3699 would reverse the highly successful National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy, prohibit American taxpayers from accessing the results of the crucial biomedical research funded by their taxpayer dollars, and stifle critical advancements in life-saving research and scientific discovery.

Because of the NIH Public Access Policy, millions of Americans now have access to vital health care information from the NIH's PubMed Central database. Under the current policy, more than 90,000 new biomedical manuscripts are deposited for public accessibility each year. H.R. 3699 would prohibit the deposit of these manuscripts, seriously impeding the ability of researchers, physicians, healthcare professionals, families, and students to access and use this critical health-related information in a timely manner.

H.R. 3699 affects not only the results of biomedical research produced by the NIH, but also scientific research coming from all other federal agencies. Access to critical information on energy, the environment, climate change, and hundreds of other areas that directly impact the lives and well being of the public would be unfairly limited by this proposed legislation.

Research articles, a significant portion of which are government-funded, are the building blocks of a student’s education – from the core to the cutting edge. Students – and the professors who teach them – must have access to the most current research to receive a complete, up-to-date education. Rather than impede access to these resources, as the Research Works Act does, the government should actively ensure students get the full benefit of our collective investment in science. After all, our future economic competitiveness will rely on workers with an advanced education in fields like biotechnology and clean energy that depends on unfettered access to the research literature.

[Why you support taxpayer access and how it effects you personally].

The NIH and other agencies must be allowed to ensure timely, public access to the results of research funded with taxpayer dollars. Please oppose H.R. 3699.

Sincerely,

[your name]

NAGPS Open Access Sign Up

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 16:48:38 UT

Open Access Week

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:18:30 UT

UPDATE: Open Access Week 2012 will be October 22nd through 28th.

International Open Access Week, from October 24th through the 31st, is an important week of action for students around the world to come together and push to create real change - by starting conversations, educating peers, lobbying administrators, and more. Students have become a leading force in advancing Open Access, and Open Access Week is a important opportunity to showcase that work and continue pressing forward.

We’re going to make this year bigger than ever, and we need your help. So, what can you do? The most important thing is simply to participate, whether it's by hosting a viewing party for one of our webcasts, writing an opinion piece for your campus newspaper, or sharing our Facebook and Twitter pages with your friends so they can get involved and stay up to date.

To help you get started, we’ve created this guide with ideas for how you can get involved and make a difference during the week. Take a look, and plan to join the other students around the world engaging thousands (tens of thousands? millions?) on their campuses and in their organizations. Together, we'll make this the biggest Open Access Week yet!

Get connected

Go to openaccessweek.org, set up a profile, and join the Student Open Access Week Organizers group. The site will connect you with hundreds of others who are planning events for the week, and the student organizers’ group will be a discussion forum where you can get help, ask questions, and post the details of what you’re planning for the week.

Be sure to let us know what you do during the week by posting on the Open Access Week website or sending an email with details to contact [at] righttoresearch [dot] org. In November, we’ll post a summary of students’ impact during the week, and we don’t want to leave anyone out – even if it’s just sending us a link to an opinion article you wrote.

Spread the word

• Like the Right to Research Coalition on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@R2RC), then urge your friends to get connected with us by posting a link to our website and why Open Access matters to you. If you tweet, be sure to use the hashtag #OAWeek.

• Contact your local or campus newspaper to pitch a story on Open Access or offer to write an opinion piece to run during the week. A guide to writing an Open Access opinion article is coming soon!

• If you’re in a student organization or on your student government, include information on Open Access in your newsletters around Open Access Week.

• Translate! Our resources are created in English, but we’re working with students to translate them into a number of different languages. If you’re interested in helping to translate our resources, email nick [at] arl [dot] org to get connected with our translation effort.

Host an event or webcast viewing party

One of the highest impact ways students participate in Open Access Week is by organizing an event on campus to educate students (and faculty) about Open Access and why it’s important. Last year, students put together panels on a number of different campuses that included local experts from the faculty and library. Many students are already planning panels for this year, and to make holding an event easier, we’re hosting 2 live webcasts that you can feature in your program instead of putting together a whole panel.

The first webcast will be broadcast at 8:00pm EDT (12:00am GMT) on October 24th, and the second webcast will be broadcast at 12:00pm EDT (4:00pm GMT) on October 26th.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WEBCASTS AND REGISTER HERE

Even if you can’t organize an event, plan to join us for one or both of the webcasts. We’ll have leading figures from the Open Access movement talking directly to students about the impact of Open Access to research and the crucial role of students in making Open Access a reality on their campuses, in their fields of study, and as the new default mode of communication.

If you do plan an event, make sure you reach out to your campus librarians as quickly as possible. They’ll be a great resource to help you plan, to get you connected with Open Access champions on your campus, and may be able to help cover potential costs of an event.

Raise visibility on campus

• Post Open Access flyers and posters in high-traffic areas of your campus.

• Dress up prominent statues on campus in Open Access swag, like George Mason University did last year. You can order Open Access swag in the SPARC store.

• Overprice tags: Pull print copies of some of the most expensive journals in your library and label each with its own price tag, then display the journals in highly trafficked areas of your library. You can find more information on how to create overprice tags here.

• Set up a projector in a high traffic area of campus and play short videos about Open Access, such as the intro animation of our website which can find on Vimeo here. Other options would be Open Access 101 or one of the many videos from the SPARC Voice of Open Access series. Or you could even project one of our Open Access Week webcasts live for students to watch as they walk by.

• Work with your librarians to put up a message about Open Access Week on the computers and information screens around your library.

• Post a large piece of paper and invite students to write down their frustrations in accessing research.

• Set up a table with a laptop and ask students to endorse our Individual Statement on the Right to Research.

• Use sidewalk chalk to write messages about Open Access or your institutional repository like the students at Oregon State University.

Take action

• Use Open Access Week to kick off a campaign for your university to adopt an open-access policy requiring research on your campus to be made openly available. Use the work being done by students at the University of British Columbia as a model. Also, be on the look out this Winter for many more resources from the Right to Research Coalition to help you promote an open-access policy on your campus.

• Use Open Access Week to bring the issue of Open Access and the Right to Research Coalition to the attention of your local, national, or international student organization, then encourage them to join the coalition and become active in educating members about Open Access and advocating for policies that open up access to research.

Pick an idea, and start planning!

Whatever it is, plan to participate in Open Access Week in some way. To make this year the biggest yet, each person’s participation is important, so start planning now to join the thousands of others making a difference during the week. Get connected through the Open Access Week student organizers’ page, and make sure you let us know what you’re doing so we can share it with everyone else (especially if you have pictures!).

Stay tuned for more additions, and we’ll post the final webcast programs and details on how to register for each shortly. To make sure you’re updated on our Open Access Week announcements as they happen, fill in the form below with your email address.

Student talking points and contact information for letters to NIH Director Collins

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:12:09 UT

The following talking points are for use in conjunction with the call to action issued March 30, 2011. As always, please adapt and expand as needed to suit your unique voice.

[Describe your organization]
Offer congratulations as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) marks the third anniversary of its highly successful Public Access Policy.
Note that the NIH and Director Collins have shown tremendous leadership in implementing the first U.S. policy to ensure that all students and other members of the public – including patients and their families, health care professionals, researchers, entrepreneurs and business owners – are guaranteed free online access to articles reporting on the results of research that their tax dollars support.
As result of the NIH’s commitment to public access, every student can now take advantage of an invaluable new resource in the more than two million full-text articles in PubMed Central (PMC).
[Describe you and/or your organization’s interests and use of PMC and why this is important for you]
Due to the high and increasing cost of many journals, students are often forced to make do with the fraction of journals their institution can afford rather than what they need. Furthermore, educators cannot teach what they cannot read, meaning inaccessible articles don’t find their way into the classes in which they should be taught.
The NIH public access policy allows all students and educators access to the results of NIH-funded research that are crucial for a complete, up-to-date education in biomedical fields, regardless of their institution’s ability to pay for journal subscriptions.
We ask that you consider shortening the embargo period for accessing articles reporting on NIH-funded research to six months or less.
A six-month embargo will significantly enhance students’ ability to get the most up-to-date education. With the fast pace of biomedical research, a shorter embargo period means students can hit the ground running after graduation rather than relying on potentially outdated information.
[Add your own conclusion]
[Thanks and offer of follow up]

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Dr. Francis Collins
Director, National Institutes of Health

1 Center Drive, MSC 0148 (Room 126)
Bethesda, MD 20892-0148
Fax: 301-402-2700
Email: francis.collins@nih.gov

Student talking points and contact information for letters to OSTP Director Holdren

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:11:45 UT

The following talking points are for use in conjunction with the call to action issued March 30, 2011. As always, please adapt and expand as needed to suit your unique voice.

April 7th, 2011 will mark the third anniversary of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) highly successful Public Access Policy.
It’s the first U.S. policy to ensure that members of the public – including students [and other groups you believe benefit from access] – have guaranteed, free, online access to articles reporting on the results of research that their tax dollars support.
PMC has made available more than two million full-text articles, which are accessed by nearly half a million users every day from all sectors of the public.
On behalf of [describe your organization], we ask that you consider immediately expanding the NIH Public Access Policy to all other departments and agencies with extramural research budgets of $100 million or more.
Doing so will greatly benefit American students of all disciplines who rely on access to government-funded research for a complete and up-to-date education.
[Explain why public access is important to your organization and how you have benefited from the success of the NIH policy]
Because of the high price of many subscriptions, students are often forced to make do with only the journals their institution can afford rather than what they need. Furthermore, educators cannot teach what they cannot read, meaning inaccessible articles don’t find their way into the classes in which they should be taught.
In this time of across the board belt-tightening, we’re asking our educational institutions to do more with less, and expanding the NIH policy to other federal science agencies is crucial to ensure the results of research are available to benefit all students, not just those at the wealthiest institutions.
As the United States continues its shift toward a knowledge-based economy, making publicly funded research available to all students is a direct investment in America’s future. Expanding students’ access to cutting-edge research will help them to enter the workforce running, rather than having to play catch-up in learning the current state of their field.
[Thanks and invitation to discuss further]

CONTACT INFORMATION:

John Holdren
Assistant to the President for Science and Technology
Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President

New Executive Office Building
725 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20502
Fax: (202) 456-6021
Email: jholdren@ostp.eop.gov

cc:
Tom Kalil
Deputy Director for Policy, Office of the Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President
Fax: (202) 456-6021
Email: tkalil@ostp.eop.gov

Carl Wieman
Associate Director of Science, Science Division, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President
Fax: (202) 456-6027
Email: cwieman@ostp.eop.gov

Aneesh Chopra
Associate Director and Chief Technology Officer, Technology Division, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President
Fax: (202) 456-6021
Email: achopra@ostp.eop.gov

Open Access Week Webcast

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 22:00:22 UT

To log into the Open Access Week Webcast tonight at 7pm EDT / 4pm PDT, goto www.infiniteconferencing.com/join and enter participant code 22482249, then for the audio, dial into 888.600.2819 and enter the same participant code (22482249).

For information on the webcast, click here.

The Individual Statement on The Right to Research

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 16:38:57 UT

Scholarly knowledge is part of the common wealth of humanity.

Unfortunately, not everyone has access to the scholarly literature, despite advances in communications technology. The high cost of academic journals restricts access to knowledge; in some fields, prices can reach $20,000 for a single journal subscription¹ or $30 for an individual article.² Despite these high prices, authors of scholarly articles are not paid for their work. The profits from these publications go solely to the publishers of the journals. A vast amount of research is funded from public sources – yet taxpayers are locked out by the cost of access.

Learning and inquiry are impeded when scholars lack access to fellow researchers’ work, and when students lack access to the work of scholars before them.

At the same time, digital technologies have opened new opportunities for research. New tools facilitate faster discoveries, speed the development of new technologies, and accelerate the progress of science. Patients could have access to the latest medical research, citizens could evaluate scientific information on environmental impacts, and developing countries could apply the most recent scholarship to public health and development efforts.³ But access barriers leave these opportunities under-explored.

Open Access is an alternative to the traditional closed, subscription-access system of scholarly communication. Open Access makes the results of scholarly research available online for free, immediately upon publication, and removes barriers for scholarly and educational re-use.⁴ Entire journals can be open-access, or an author can provide Open Access to an individual article by posting a copy on an openly accessible Web site. All forms of open-access publication depend on rigorous methods of quality control, including peer review.

Open Access has achieved remarkable success to date: more than 4,000 open-access journals are published today;⁵ millions of articles are made available via open-access repositories;⁶and dozens of policies from universities and research funders support Open Access;⁷ but still more needs to be done.

I hereby endorse Open Access as the preferred model for scholarly communication, because:

(a) Open Access improves the educational experience. All students, regardless of their institution’s ability to afford subscriptions, should have access to the full scholarly record, whether for assigned reading, research for a term paper, or literature review for a dissertation.

(b) Open Access democratizes access to research. Students from around the world should have full access to the scholarly literature, along with patients looking for medical information and citizens seeking to learn about the environment or other scientific topics.

(c) Open Access advances research. Open Access helps researchers be more productive by facilitating access to the latest studies. Open Access also enables new techniques for computer-assisted research, paving the way for scientific advancements.

(d) Open Access improves the visibility and impact of scholarship. Today's student is tomorrow’s scholar. Recent studies suggest that Open Access articles are downloaded and cited more frequently than articles that are accessible only through subscription.⁸ Open Access fulfills researchers’ professional responsibility to maximize the impact of their research.

I hereby:

Call upon UNIVERSITIES to support Open Access

I believe universities should adopt policies that ensure Open Access to their faculty's research, such as the policies adopted at Harvard University⁹ and Stanford University.¹⁰

Call upon GOVERNMENTS AND RESEARCH FUNDERS to support Open Access

I believe research agencies should adopt policies that ensure Open Access to publicly funded research, such as that of the National Institutes of Health¹¹ and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.¹²

I believe charitable funders likewise should adopt policies that ensure Open Access to their funded research, such as that of Autism Speaks¹³and the Canadian Cancer Society.¹⁴

Call upon RESEARCHERS to support Open Access

I believe researchers should publish in Open Access journals, and/or deposit their peer-reviewed manuscripts in Open Access repositories.¹⁵

Commit to support Open Access in my activities

[1] The cost of an institutional subscription to Brain Research in 2009 was $22,940 (http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622287/bibliographic).

[2] The price per article for Elsevier journals on ScienceDirect is $31.50 as of March 4, 2009 (http://www.info.sciencedirect.com/licensing/individual/ppv/).

[3] World Health Assembly resolution 61.21, “Global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property,” adopted May 24, 2008 (http://www.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/A61/A61_R21-en.pdf).

[4] As defined in the Budapest Open Access Initiative, the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing, and the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities (http://www.soros.org/openaccess/read.shtml;http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/bethesda.htm; http://oa.mpg.de/openaccess-berlin/berlindeclaration.html).

[5] The Directory of Open Access Journals lists 4,103 journals as of May 1, 2009 (http://www.doaj.org/).

[6] According to statistics published in the Open Access Directory (http://oad.simmons.edu/oadwiki/OA_by_the_numbers).

[7] According to the Registry of Open Access Repository Material Archiving Policies (http://www.eprints.org/openaccess/policysignup/).

[8] “The effect of open access and downloads ('hits') on citation impact: a bibliography of studies”, Open Citation Project (http://opcit.eprints.org/oacitation-biblio.html).

[9] “The Harvard Open-Access Policies,” Harvard University Library Office for Scholarly Communications (http://osc.hul.harvard.edu/OpenAccess/overview.php).

[10] “Stanford University School of Education Open Access Motion” (http://ed.stanford.edu/suse/faculty/openaccess.html).

[11] “Public Access Policy”, National Institutes of Health (http://publicaccess.nih.gov/policy.htm).

[12] “Policy on Access to Research Outputs”, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/34846.html).

[13] “Policy on Public Access to the Research We Fund,” Autism Speaks (http://www.autismspeaks.org/science/overview/policies/policy_on_public_access_to_research.php).

[14] “Open access policy”, Canadian Cancer Society (http://cancer.ca/research/policies and administration/policy/open access.aspx).

[15] Peter Suber, “Six things that researchers need to know about open access”, SPARC Open Access Newsletter, February 2, 2006 (http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/newsletter/02-02-06.htm#know)