They're at it again, those pesky publishers, specifically those belonging to the Association of American Publishers (AAP). They're trying to preserve their profits at the expense of the public who has already paid for the government-funded research they're publishing. They're currently behind a legislative effort to overturn the NIH Public Access Policy, the federal requirement that authors of government-funded research deposit their manuscripts in PubMed Central where they will be made public after a 12-month embargo period.
Shouldn't government-funded research be freely accessible by the public in open-access journals, rather than sequestered in expensive subscription-based journals? Of course...a no-brainer. And by the way, I think the 12-month embargo period is way too long. But this is what publishers are supposed to do. They're not in business for their health. They're in business to stay in business, and that means making money. And this is what librarians, academics, researchers and other clear-thinking people are supposed to do: protest and point out the errors in the AAP's collective thinking.
I'm letting my Representative know what I think about this proposed legislation, HR 3699, the Research Works Act. How about you other clear-thinking people?
