I sort of can’t believe it is true, but the NIH has decided to give the public free access to federally funded research results. You can read the full article here

CHICAGO – (KRT) – After years of heated debates and under pressure from Congress, federal health officials announced Thursday a historic new policy to give the public free access to scientific findings funded with tax dollars.

The plan, unveiled by the National Institutes of Health despite sharp opposition by scientific publishers, calls on scientists to release electronic manuscripts of published research supported by NIH’s 27 institutes and centers “as soon as possible, and within 12 months of final publication.”

Currently, most publicly funded research studies are available only by buying expensive subscriptions to the journals that publish them or on a pay-per-article basis.

I would like to learn more about the contours of the debate: who was in support, in opposition, how long was this under consideration.

This decision follows the heels of another provocative NIH decision that regulates NIH scientist’s relationship to private industry. Notable among the new regulations are: “a strict ban on consulting work for biotech and drug companies, a prohibition on accepting fees for speaking at conferences, and a mandate that researchers divest their stock holdings in biotech companies. The latter requirement in particular produced several contentious moments yesterday at a meeting between senior NIH officials and researchers.”