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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Top Medical And Scientific
Societies Commit To Providing Free Access To
Medical And Scientific Research
The Washington DC
Principles for Free Access to Science increases access to new research
findings,
while maintaining high standards for responsible scientific publishing
(March 16, 2004) � Washington, DC � Representatives from the nation�s leading not-for-profit medical/scientific societies and publishers have announced their commitment to providing free access and wide dissemination of published research findings. Their commitment was conveyed today by the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association and others, during a news conference in Washington at which they released Washington DC Principles for Free Access to Science�a statement representing 48 not-for-profit publishers and over 600,000 scientists and clinicians.
The DC Principles outlines the commitment of not-for-profit publishers to work in partnership with scholarly communities such as libraries to �ensure that these communities are sustained, science is advanced, research meets the highest standards and patient care is enhanced with accurate and timely information.� The DC Principles provide what has been called the needed �middle ground� in the increasingly heated debate between those who advocate immediate unfettered online access to medical and scientific research findings and advocates of the current journal publishing system. The document was drafted in response to recent claims that these publishers� practices hinder the public�s ability to access published scientific research.
The Washington DC Principles for Free Access to Science outlines several practices that the 48 organizations that created and signed the document are committed to carrying out. These practices include:
� A commitment to maintaining and enhancing the independence, rigor, trust and visibility that have helped to establish scholarly journals as reliable filters of information that is generated by clinical and laboratory research and provide a filter for dissemination of health care policy.
� Support of several forms of free access, including the availability of:
� Continued development of long-term preservation solutions for online journals to ensure the ongoing availability of the scientific literature.
� Dedication to work with authors, peer-reviewers, and editors for the development of robust online and electronic tools to improve efficiency of their important intellectual endeavors.
� The reinvestment of revenue from journals in direct support of science worldwide, including scholarships, scientific meetings, grants, educational outreach, advocacy for research funding, the free dissemination of information to the public and improvements in scientific publishing.
The organizations also believe that publication fees should not be borne solely by researchers and their funding institutions because the ability to publish in scientific journals should be available equally to all scientists worldwide, no matter what their economic circumstances.
Finally, the creators of the DC Principles note that the co-existence of many different publishing models is part of a free society. �We will continue to work closely with our colleagues,� the organizations write, �to set high standards for the scholarly publishing enterprise.�
Scientific societies have been publishing scholarly journals for more than 100 years and have created a large and diverse array of publications. For more than a century these groups have made important scientific and medical information available to the public at little or no cost through their journals. Their business models, incorporating multiple sources of funding, have supported a global standard for high quality peer review by specialist communities in particular areas of knowledge. In this way the public is assured that the research findings being published have been screened for accuracy, originality and excellence.
The funds these organizations derive from their publishing activities are used to fulfill their missions, including underwriting the cost of programs aimed at recruiting and educating the next generation of physicians and scientists as well as helping to fund their research. Such activities are essential for the future of science.
The DC Principles� free access model was presented during a news briefing at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 at the National Press Club (Lisagor Room), Washington, DC. A panel of five offered an in-depth discussion of the issue. Speaking on behalf of free access were:
Martin
Frank, Ph.D. is the spokesperson for the Washington, DC Principles
for Free Access to Science. Dr. Frank is also the Executive Director of
the American Physiological Society (APS), one of America�s oldest biomedical
sciences research societies. The APS is a not-for-profit membership society
and publisher of 14 scientific journals, including the American Journal of
Physiology, which has been published since 1898.
What Is �Free Access�? (HTML or PDF version of the presentation)
Robert
D. Wells, Ph.D. is President of the Federation of American Societies for
Experimental Biology (FASEB). FASEB represents 22 professional societies,
consisting of more than 65,000 biomedical research scientists. Dr. Wells is
the former associate editor of the Journal of Biological Chemistry and
is currently the Director of the Center for Genome Research at the Institute
of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University, Houston, TX.
Impact of Open Access for Policy Journals (HTML or PDF version of the presentation)
John K. Iglehart has, since 1981, been
editor of Health Affairs, a bimonthly policy journal that he founded
under the aegis of Project HOPE. Mr. Iglehart also is national correspondent
of The New England Journal of Medicine, for which he has written more
that 100 essays called Health Policy Report. Health Affairs, a
peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal, is the largest circulation health
policy periodical published in the United States. It has subscribers in 25
foreign countries as well. Before 1981, he was a vice president of the Kaiser
Foundation Health Plan and director of its Washington, D.C. office.
The Benefits of Reinvestment (HTML
or PDF version of the presentation)
Alice
Avila-Villalobos, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of
Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and
Dentistry, Rochester, New York. Since she was a graduate student, she has been
mentored by the American Physiological Society thanks to funds derived in part
from the Society�s publication program and applied to education and training
fellowships and minority outreach programs. She has participated in the
Explorations in Biomedicine and Research Careers program and sits on the
Perkins Committee that oversees distribution of supplemental funds to
international scientists working in the US.
High Hopes for New Models? (HTML or PDF version of the presentation)
Karin Wittenborg, MLS
has been University Librarian at the University of Virginia since September
1993. Prior to joining the university she held professional positions at the
University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Stanford University, MIT, and
the State University of New York. She currently serves on the Advisory Council
for Stanford's Academic Computing and Libraries, Brown University's Committee
on Information Resources, and on the Executive Committee of the Digital
Library Federation.
What Does Free Access Mean to the Physician,
Scientist and User of the Literature? (HTML or
PDF version of the
presentation)
William Rosner, MD is Professor of Medicine
and Associate Dean, College of Physician and Surgeons, Columbia University,
and Director, Institute of Health Sciences, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital
Center, New York, New York. Dr. Rosner also serves on The Endocrine Society
Council and is the past-Chair of the Publications Committee. His major area of
clinical interest is androgenic disorders in women.
Forty-eight members of the not-for-profit publishing community support the DC Principles for Free Access to Science. They are:
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