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RSS feedsSTM publishers are coming together within the Association of American Publishers (AAP) to fight the proposed Federal Research Public Access Act 2006.
The US Act aims to ensure that all research papers funded by the US government are made publicly available within six months.
The Professional Scholarly Publishing Division (PSP) of the AAP, which boasts McGraw Hill, Springer, John Wiley & Sons and Elsevier as members, is fighting the Act. Brian Crawford, chairman of the PSP, said: “If passed, the legislation will seriously jeopardise the integrity of the scientific publishing process.”
Crawford argues that the act will undermine peer review and remove the “incentive” to publish scientific, technical and medical material. As a result, Crawford believes that researchers and not-for-profit scientific associations would bare the burden of publishing.
AAP has called on the US government to carry out an independent impact study. “No evidentiary record exists to document the long-term cost to tax payers of government agencies developing yet another system to promote public access,” said Allan Adler, AAP vp ( click here for more AAP news).
“At least 95% of the demand is being met by current models that are in place,” said Crawford. “The public can find the journals at libraries.”
The Federal Research Public Access Act was introduced to the US Senate last month by Republican John Cornyn and Connecticut Democrat Joe Lieberman. If passed, the act will demand that federal agencies with a research budget over $100m(£53.4m) would have to implement a public access policy to ensure free online access within six months.
