Support from a leading scientific publishing company for a controversial piece of legislation produced a backlash from more than 8,000 academic researchers.

 

Four years ago, as part of the 2008 Appropriations Act, Congress approved guidelines established by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which granted free public access to any scientific paper on research funded by the NIH. Another bill, though, was recently introduced, the Research Works Act (RWA), which sought to reverse the Open Policy Act. The bill was introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-New York).

 

Elsevier, publisher of 2,665 journals, threw its support behind the RWA, which upset some in the scientific community. A boycott of Elsevier was launched, with more than 8,200 academics getting behind it. The protest resulted in Elsevier withdrawing its backing of the RWA. Three weeks later, following the scientific backlash against the bill, Issa and Maloney agreed to stop pushing the legislation forward.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

8,200+ Strong, Researchers Band Together To Force Science Journals To Open Access (by David Hill, Singularity Hub)