December 18, 2019
COALITION OF 135+ SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND PUBLISHING ORGANIZATIONS SENDS LETTER TO ADMINISTRATION
MORE THAN 135 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND PUBLISHING ORGANIZATIONS JOIN TOGETHER IN OPPOSITION TO PROPOSED ADMINISTRATION POLICY FORCING IMMEDIATE FREE DISTRIBUTION OF PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES
Proposed Policy Would Undermine American Science, Research, Intellectual Property, and Global Competitiveness
December 18, 2019, Washington, DC – In a new major letter signaling deep concern, more than 135 organizations – representing publishers in scientific and medical societies, global companies, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – have expressed their strong opposition to a proposed Administration policy that would mandate immediate free distribution of peer-reviewed journal articles reporting on federally funded research. Along with the Association of American Publishers (AAP), the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the New England Journal of Medicine are among the many signatories.
Peer-reviewed articles are not free to produce. Hundreds of non-profit and commercial publishers across America make significant investments, at no cost to taxpayers, to finance the peer-review, publication, distribution, and long-term stewardship of these articles. Relying on a highly important and successful marketplace and the bedrock copyright laws that make it possible, publishers disseminate these articles to users in hundreds of foreign markets, supporting billions of dollars in U.S. exports and an extensive network of American businesses and jobs. This network includes American professional societies that invest in educating and nurturing our nation’s scientists, engineers, doctors, and other researchers.
“The American publishing industry invests billions of dollars financing, organizing, and executing the world’s leading peer-review process in order to ensure the quality, reliability, and integrity of the scientific record,” said Maria A. Pallante, President & CEO of the Association of American Publishers. “The result is a public-private partnership that advances America’s position as the global leader in research, innovation, and scientific discovery. If the proposed policy goes into effect, not only would it wipe out a significant sector of our economy, it would also cost the federal government billions of dollars, undermine our nation’s scientific research and innovation, and significantly weaken America’s trade position. Nationalizing this essential function—that our private, non-profit scientific societies and commercial publishers do exceedingly well—is a costly, ill-advised path.”
The letter notes that “publishers both support and enable ‘open access’ business models and ‘open data’ as important options within a larger framework that assumes critical publisher investments remain viable. Under a legacy regulation that is still in force today, proprietary journal articles that report on federally funded research must be made available for free within 12 months of publication. This mandate already amounts to a significant government intervention in the private market. Going below the current 12 month ‘embargo’ would make it very difficult for most American publishers to invest in publishing these articles. As a consequence, it would place increased financial responsibility on the government through diverted federal research grant funds or additional monies to underwrite the important value added by publishing. In the coming years, this cost shift would place billions of dollars of new and additional burden on taxpayers.”
Read the full coalition letter here.
The letter comes on the heels of another strong letter to the Administration from Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Intellectual Property Subcommittee, which expresses similar concerns about the proposed policy. That letter is available here.
List of Signatories to the Coalition Letter:
AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Neurology
American Academy of Ophthalmology
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
American Academy of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
American Association for Anatomy
American Association for Cancer Research
American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus
American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases
American Association for the Surgery of Trauma
American Association of Immunologists
American Association of Occupational Health Nurses
American Association of Physicists in Medicine
American Astronomical Society
American Cancer Society
American Ceramic Society
American Chemical Society
American College of Cardiology
American College of Emergency Physicians
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American College of Physicians
American College of Radiology
American College of Rheumatology
American College of Surgeons
American Contact Dermatitis Society
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
American Counseling Association
American Dental Association
American Diabetes Association
American Gastroenterological Association
American Geophysical Union
American Geriatrics Society
American Headache Society
American Heart Association
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
American Institute of Chemical Engineers
American Oil Chemists Society
American Medical Association
American Neurological Association
American Physiological Society
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychological Association
American Sexual Health Association
American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association
American Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics
American Society for Nutrition
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
American Society for Clinical Pathology
American Society for Dermatologic Surgery Association
American Society for Investigative Pathology
American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
American Society for Radiation Oncology
American Society for Reproductive Medicine
American Society of Anesthesiologists
American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers
American Society of Agronomy
American Society of Animal Science
American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society of Clinical Oncology
American Society of Cytopathology
American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy
American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating & Air-Conditioning Engineers
American Society of Hematology
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
American Society of Nephrology
American Society of Neurorehabilitation (ASNR)
American Society of Plant Biologists
American Society of Plastic Surgeons
American Society of Transplantation
American Society of Transplant Surgeons
American Thoracic Society
American Urological Association
American Water Works Association
Association for Computing Machinery
Association for Molecular Pathology
Association for Psychological Science
Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography
Association of American Publishers
Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health
Association of Teacher Educators
Biophysical Society
Botanical Society of America
Common Ground Research Networks
Council of Medical Specialty Societies
Council of Scientific Society Presidents
Crop Science Society of America
Ecological Society of America
Elsevier
Endocrine Society
Financial Management Association
Genetics Society of America
Infectious Diseases Society of America
Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
Institute of Food Technologists
Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers
International Anesthesia Research Society
International Literacy Association
International Society for Sexual Medicine
Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, Diabetes Technology Society
Kappa Delta Pi, International Honor Society in Education
Macmillan
McGraw-Hill Education
Milbank Memorial Fund
National Council on Family Relations
National Kidney Foundation
New England Journal of Medicine published by the Massachusetts Medical Society
Orthopaedic Research Society
Radiological Society of North America
Seismological Society of America
Shock Society
Society for Leukocyte Biology
Society for Research on Adolescence
Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
Society for Research in Child Development
Society of General Internal Medicine
Society of Plastics Engineers
Soil Science Society of America
Software and Information Industry Association
The Heart Rhythm Society
The Histochemical Society
The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, Inc.
The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
The Optical Society
The Triological Society
The Voice Foundation
University of Chicago Press
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Wiley
Wolters Kluwer
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