URL: Open Letter from Fellows of the Royal Society

J.W. Bizzaro • December 9, 2005

URL: Open Letter from Fellows of the Royal Society

Thanks to Matthew Cockerill for pointing out the following ``Open Letter from Fellows of the Royal Society regarding the Society's position statement on open access'':

``Dear Lord Rees: As Fellows of the Royal Society, we would like to express our disappointment with the Society's recent position statement on open access to published research. The society's statement, which takes a largely negative stance on open access, appears to be aimed at delaying implementation of the Research Councils UK's proposed policy on access to research outputs.

``As working scientists who support open access to published research, we believe that the Society should support RCUK's proposal, rather than oppose it. The proposed RCUK policy will ensure that the results of research funded by the Research Councils are made freely and rapidly available, maximizing their utility not only to the scholarly community in the United Kingdom and around the world, but also to practitioners (including doctors and nurses) and to the British public whose taxes largely support the research. The RCUK policy has strong backing from librarians and academics, and has received official support from Universities UK, the organization that represents UK university vice-chancellors and principals.''

Full letter:
http://www.frsopenletter.org

The letter is signed by 57 Fellows of the Royal Society (and counting), including 5 Nobel prize-winners.

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