Another editorial endorsement of NIH mandate

[Ray English <Ray.English@oberlin.edu>]

Editorial from the Honolulu Advertiser, Hawaii' s largest newspaper:
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070810/
OPINION01/708100321/1105/OPINION01

Friday, August 10, 2007

Public deserves access to NIH research work

When it comes to how our tax dollars are spent, it's not too 
often these days that taxpayers can feel they're getting their 
money's worth.

So it's encouraging to see a measure in Congress designed to do 
just that.

Taxpayers pay about $28 billion annually to finance valuable 
research at the National Institutes of Health, resulting in more 
than 60,000 published studies yearly.

The problem is most of us never see those reports. The studies 
typically wind up in published journals that, in turn, sell the 
information to subscribers, commanding high subscription rates. 
Doctors, patients and the public need to pony up for the data.

And while NIH has a "voluntary initiative" calling for the 
taxpayer- funded research to be aggregated on a free Web site 
(PubMed Central), less than 5 percent of researchers comply.

That could soon change.

The House cleared a bill that would require NIH to provide free 
online access to its research articles within a year of 
publication in a peer-review journal. It's now up to the Senate 
to follow suit.

Publishers of the journals argue that mandatory public access 
holds potential copyright problems. And, of course, they worry 
that free access would discourage others from paying pricey 
subscription fees, affecting their bottom line.

The peer review system has value. But that doesn't mean 
publishers should continue to cash in endlessly. The bill allows 
publishers to continue the review process and sell journals for 
the first 12 months - catering to those who need the information 
quickly.

Beyond that, providing greater access will not only allow 
taxpayers to see the fruits of their financing, it also expands 
the chances of significant medical breakthroughs by allowing 
researchers to continue to build on valuable research. And that 
truly would maximize the return on our hard-earned tax dollars.

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