Copyright and the NIH Public Access Policy

SPARC, Science Commons, and ARL have jointly sponsored a new white paper, Complying with the NIH Public Access Policy - Copyright Considerations and Options, offering options for university implementation of the new NIH public access policy.

Excerpts from the press release:

Effective April 7, 2008, investigators must deposit articles stemming from NIH funding into the agency’s PubMed Central online archive, to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after publication in a journal. Complying with the National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy: Copyright Considerations and Options will help provosts, research administrators, and campus counsel understand their institution’s copyright-related obligations and options under the new Congressionally mandated policy, which was announced in January and replaces an earlier voluntary approach.

The timely analysis was prepared by Michael W. Carroll, an attorney, copyright expert, and faculty member at Villanova University law school. Carroll reviews the policy and its background, explains the legal context, and presents six alternative copyright management strategies that will help grantee institutions assure they reserve the necessary rights for articles to be made available in PubMed Central. . . .

"The benefits to biomedical research of the new NIH policy are ultimately nothing short of tremendous,” said Heather Joseph, executive director of SPARC. “The sooner we can get effective implementing mechanisms in place, the sooner researchers, institutions, and the public can put PubMed Central to work. With April implementation drawing near, this paper will be a great tool to help administrators jumpstart the local planning process.” . . . .