BioMed Central Blog
Support solidifies for the U.S. Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPPA)
41 Nobel Laureates and scientists collaborated to show their support for FRPPA, by lobbying Congress thorough an open letter. The legislation seeks to enhance access to federally funded published research articles, ensuring they are made available in an online repository no later than 6 months after publication.
The bill will broaden the reach of scientific data for the benefit of researchers, companies and consumers alike. It is also hoped that the legislation will fuel innovation and entrepreneurship through increased dissemination of ideas, as well as raising the international profile of U.S. originated research.
The bill will bring the U.S. in line with many global research councils' public access policies as well as complementing the NIH public access policy. Furthermore the legislation would increase the accessibility of research for all higher education institutions regardless of size, propagating research to students who might not habitually have access.
Read the full letter to Congress here for a more detailed view.
Posted by Charlotte Webber at 15:33 Comments (0)
Open access and the developing world - read the latest
As part of Open Access Week last month, Walter H. Curioso, M.D., M.P.H, Research Professor at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, talks about his views of open access and how it can help in developing countries
In other open access news, Denise Nicholson recently published her Tips for Developing Countries when reviewing Copyright Laws as part of the African Copyright & Access to Knowledge Project. Her recommendations include:
* ... Do not include protection for non-original databases. (It had little or no positive impact for rightsholders in the EU and created problems for users)". Original databases are protected by copyright like any original work. ...
* Promote Open Access, Open Source Software & Open Licensing (e.g. Creative Commons, etc.)
* Create and populate Open Access Institutional Repositories/Research Archives to showcase African research.
At a meeting on open access in agriculture, held at the International Centre for Crop Research for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad early September, Bruce Alberts, Editor-in-Chief or Science, called for open access to agricultural research in India to help drive development and reduce poverty. According to Alberts 'Given that agriculture is a "critical component" of India's science sector and that the country has a tremendous advantage in terms of diversity in agricultural science and practice, providing open access to agricultural research results could improve in national and state policymaking.'
In a comprehensive article recently published in the Times Higher Education Supplement, reporter Zoe Corbyn explores the pros and cons of open access, particularly in the developing world. In a blog piece entitled 'Revisiting OA', Barbara Kirsop of the Electronic Publishing Trust emphasises the need for instutional repositories in the developing world, concluding:
"Without a strong research base, the poorer countries will forever depend on donations and will be unable to contribute their essential and unique knowledge to the world's information pool."
Posted by Charlotte Webber at 14:44 Comments (0)
Journal of Hematology & Oncology and SJTREM accepted for indexing in MEDLINE
Journal of Hematology & Oncology and Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine (SJTREM) have both been recently accepted for inclusion in MEDLINE.
For Journal of Hematology & Oncology this news comes hot on the heels of the news that the journal has been accepted by Thomson Reuters and will receive its first impact factor next June. The journal was only launched in May 2008 and since published a wide range of articles and has quickly built a strong reputation in its field.
SJTREM transferred to BioMed Central in July 2008 in its 16th year of publication and is the official publication of the Scandinavian Networking Group on Trauma and Emergency Management and is also affiliated with 9 more societies involved in trauma, resuscitation, and emergency medicine in Scandinavia.
Posted by Charlotte Hubbard at 14:31 Comments (0)