From: Lori Carlin <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:56:45 -0500
Posted on behalf of H. Fredrick Dylla, Executive Director and CEO,
American Institute of Physics
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AIP's Position on the Research Works Act (HR 3699)
The Research Works Act (RWA; HR 3699), introduced in December 2011,
would prohibit the free dissemination of private research works funded
by federal agencies. This would effectively mean a repeal of the NIH
Public Access Mandate passed under the Consolidated Appropriations Act
of 2008 and an end to the PubMed Central digital repository.
While AIP would routinely oppose any federal legislation, such as the
NIH policy, that mandates a one-size-fits-all approach to increasing
public access, we are deeply concerned that RWA undermines the
momentum and spirit of the collaborative efforts already underway to
provide online access by the public to research results.
AIP's goal is to achieve the widest dissemination of the research
results and other information we publish. As such, AIP has been
substantively involved in collaborative and productive efforts to find
a way to develop dissemination plans that engage and benefit all
affected parties, including federal agencies, scientists, university
administrators, librarians, publishers, and the public. These efforts
include:
* Participation on the Scholarly Publishing Roundtable,
* Endorsement of the inclusive approach articulated in an existing
public law, the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, and
developing agency-publisher partnerships, and
* Development of pilot projects directly with DOE and NSF to
increase access to and interoperability among agency and publisher
databases.
It is AIP's position that the proposed legislation is counter-
productive to current efforts and not needed at this time. The
measured, imaginative discussions between publishers and federal
agencies that have been spurred by the existing COMPETES law offer the
most productive route to success in broadening public access.
Contact:
H. Frederick Dylla, Executive Director and CEO
American Institute of Physics
[log in to unmask]
About the American Institute of Physics
The American Institute of Physics (AIP) is an organization of 10
physical science societies, representing more than 135,000 scientists,
engineers, and educators. As one of the world's largest publishers of
scientific information in physics, AIP employs innovative publishing
technologies and offers publishing services for its Member Societies.
AIP's suite of publications includes 15 journals, three of which are
published in partnership with other societies; magazines, including
its flagship publication Physics Today; and the AIP Conference
Proceedings series. Through its Physics Resources Center, AIP also
delivers valuable services and expertise in education and student
programs, science communications, government relations, career
services for science and engineering professionals, statistical
research, industrial outreach, and the history of physics and other
sciences.
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