The Association of American Publishers is mounting a vigorous campaign to defeat a proposal that would mandate online publication and free access to any research funded by the National Institutes of Health. Publishers first became aware of the proposal in late July after language was inserted into the appropriations bill by the House subcommittee on Labor, Health, Human Services and Education that would make taxpayer-funded research available within six months of original publication. More than 100 publishers visited the NIH offices last month to voice their opposition, and last week the AAP sent letters to NIH outlining its concerns. But while the publishers oppose the measure, a new coalition that includes library organizations has been formed that backs the proposal.
Language in the subcommittee proposal calls for "making the complete text of articles" available free of charge to the public on PubMed Central, a digital library maintained by the National Library of Medicine. The text notes that free access is needed, in part, because of "the dramatic rise in scientific journal subscription prices."
The conflict pits academic and research libraries, which complain about the high price of journals as well as making taxpayers pay twice for the same material, against commercial STM publishers as well as smaller scientific associations that often fund their activities by the commercial publication of scientific studies.
Barbara Meredith, v-p of the AAP's professional and scholarly publishing division, said that the AAP was "blindsided" by this section of the bill, which, she said, was inserted without knowledge of the STM publishing community. "There were no hearings, no studies. This is a question of due process."
The AAP's professional and scholarly publishing division has fired off an eight-page "letter of concern" to Dr. Elias Zerhouni, director of the NIH, over the language. The AAP claims the language is a radical departure that would place the future of much scientific publishing solely in the hands of the government. "This could mean the end of STM publishing," said Meredith. "Do we really want the government to mandate and control the business model for scientific publishing?
"Our members are upset," said Meredith, emphasizing that the AAP will fight the new language when the bill reaches the Senate. "We will lobby the Senate as soon as it returns to session."
The AAP will face a new lobby when the bill moves to the Senate. The Alliance for Taxpayer Access was formed last week to support NIH and congressional efforts to make NIH-funded research freely accessible. Among the coalition's members are the American Library Association, the Association of College & Research Libraries, Association of Research Libraries and the Medical Library Association.
