ISCB Celebrates Withdrawal of Research Works Act
Dear ISCB Members and Colleagues,
As has been reported widely, the
Research Works Act (RWA) that was introduced to the U.S. House of
Representatives late last year was withdrawn by the bill's sponsors on February
27th. ISCB took a strong stand against this bill that posed the latest threat to
public access to federally funded research results. ISCB President, Burkhard
Rost, together with Richard Lathrop, ISCB Public Affairs & Policies Committee
Chair, and Scott Markel, ISCB Publications and Communications Committee Chair,
signed a letter expressing our opposition and emphasizing the importance of the
ISCB
Public Policy Statement on Open Access to Scientific and Technical Research
Literature. The letter was personalized and sent to each of the 39 members
of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and the
content of the letter was shared with all ISCB members and many of our
scientific colleagues around the world. As a result, several scientific news
publications and blogs reported on ISCB's efforts, and we considered it a
victory when Elsevier withdrew its support of RWA days later and the bill was
withdrawn soon thereafter.
Although the tides may be turning in favor of
public access in the long run, it is doubtful that this will be the last veiled
attempt to obstruct such access. If you are a member of ISCB and have not yet
signed on to our policy statement, you can still do so at any time via the link
to current signatories on the policy page noted above.
Thank you,
BJ Morrison McKay, ISCB Executive Officer
on behalf of Burkhard Rost,
Richard Lathrop, Scott Markel, and the ISCB Board of Directors
