Access to Federally Funded Research Back to Congress
Information Today, vol 26, No. 8, p. 13, September 2009
3 Pages Posted: 11 Oct 2013
Date Written: September 1, 2009
Abstract
The federal budget proposal for fiscal year 2009 included over $147 billion of government spending on research and development. A significant portion of those funds will be allocated to academic and research institutions to fund basic and applied research in a wide variety of disciplines, including aerospace, biotechnology, health care, energy development, environmental protection, communications, and Internet technology. The funding usually takes the form of research grants to universities and university-based researchers.
A battle is looming in Congress, however, over the product of these research grants. In many cases, the end result of government-funded basic research is the publication of research results in peer-reviewed scholarly journals. The peer-review process helps to assure the integrity of the research process. However, the publication of these research papers in journals that are often very high-priced with limited availability has been criticized. With tax money being the source of the research, the argument goes that the public should have full access to the results.
Keywords: research, federally funded, copyright, government, NIH
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