Campaigners say academic publishers will have to ‘figure this out pretty darn fast’ as Biden sets 2025 deadline for switch to instant open access
A Biden administration order that published results of federally funded research should be made immediately and freely available to readers worldwide has been hailed as a crowning victory for advocates of open science.
Fans of the open access movement will be delighted by the news that the US Biden Presidency is moving to mandate that publicly funded research must be made immediately accessible without expensive subscriptions. At first look, the recent concerns about low and middle income countries not being able to afford the APC fees, would seem not to apply. Nevertheless, we should consider whether the poorer institutions in the US will be able to afford these fees. If not, it could serve to effectively lock them out from publishing in the academic media.
“The American people fund tens of billions of dollars of cutting-edge research annually,” Alondra Nelson, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in announcing the decision. “There should be no delay or barrier between the American public and the returns on their investments in research.”
On one level, the requirement extends decades of efforts across multiple administrations of both parties in the US, and by governments abroad, to prevent journal paywalls and subscription fees hindering basic scientific cooperation on fundamental pursuits of human health, economic prosperity and societal well-being.
Yet the sudden extent and finality of the US decision – covering a powerful industry with estimated annual revenues of $20 billion (£17 billion) to $30 billion – shocked both sides of the debate.
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