Open Access to Federally Funded Research Data

Just saw this item in the American Scientist Open Access Forum:

A coalition of President, Provosts, and research Vice Presidents of 27 of the nation's leading research universities and colleges has issued an open letter calling for greatly increased public access to the results of research funded by major federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

The letter has been issued in support of the Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA), which is currently working its way through Congress. The letter notes that FRPAA builds upon the success of the first U.S. policy for public access to publicly funded research implemented in 2008 through the National Institutes of Health and mirrors the intent of campus-based policies for research access that are being adopted by a growing number of public and private institutions across the nation.

The letter is posted here.

This bill is being strongly opposed by the commercial publishing lobby. I would think that archaeologists, like other scholars, would be in support of the bill.

For more information, including steps you can take to support the bill, visit the Alliance for Taxpayer Access.