Library Notes

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released its latest policy statement on Feb. 3, 2005 promoting open access to its research for use by the public: Policy on Enhancing Public Access to Archived Publications Resulting From NIH-Funded Research, http://www.nih.gov/about/publicaccess/index.htm.

The policy statement appears to be a good compromise at this time. It recommends, rather than requires, that researchers producing scholarly articles supported in full or in part by the NIH, submit them within twelve months, rather than six months, to PubMed Central. PubMed Central is operated by the National Library of Medicine and will serve as the public archive for all NIH-supported research. Submission should be in the form of the final manuscript accepted for journal publication. Compliance is voluntary. The policy takes effect May 2, 2005.

Some had hoped that the NIH would adopt its original draft of requiring submission of research results within six months of publication. However, the effect of the new policy is nearly the same in that it continues to call attention to faculty and researchers that open access is a critical issue in promoting research results. Feinberg faculty have mentioned in passing their concern for the effect open access will have on their scholarly societies and associations. These are legitimate concerns as are the concerns of students, faculty and the general public that scholarly research needs to be open and accessible to benefit society’s greater good.

Another issue prompted by the NIH policy is to call attention to faculty and researcher’s rights as copyright owner. As creators of intellectual content, faculty should have some control over the copyright on their research results. Faculty members are urged to see the resources provided by SPARC, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resource Coalition, sponsored by the Association of Research Libraries and other groups. The web page at http://www.arl.org/sparc/resources/copy.html informs faculty about their rights in negotiating copyright. This page reminds authors that “By altering your agreement with a publisher you can secure certain key rights that will be advantageous for you and for your potential readers without harming the publisher.”

The next step in getting ready to implement the NIH policy is preparation of the submission process. NLM staff has alerted librarians that the preparations are underway. Galter librarians are eager to see what the submission process will be like so we can develop services that assist faculty and researchers who support the NIH open access policy.

The NIH public policy debate reminds all faculty, staff and students that they have an important stake in the open access issue. The bottom line is to find the proper balance between the role of consumer and author in accessing research results that have the potential to advance science and promote health.

If interested, please share your ideas about the effect the open access issue has on your role as an information consumer or author. Direct your ideas to Jim Shedlock, Director, at j-shedlock@northwestern.edu or call 503-8133.

See the Galter Library Web site's Writing Aids section for further resources on the open access issue.