Cracks Form in Anti-Open Access Push

A brief article in The Scientist states that a number of academic publishers are disagreeing with their commercial counterparts over the latters' support of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) which is advocating on behalf of the proposed Research Works Act (H.R.3699). This Act aims to limit drastically public access to federally funded research findings. The academic publishers mentioned are: MIT, the Rockefeller University Press, the University of California Press, and the Pennsylvania State University Press.

Excerpts:

Academic publishers are publically disagreeing with their commercial counterparts over their association’s support of a bill being considered in the US Congress that would limit open access to research findings funded with tax payer dollars. . . .

The MIT Press was the first to contravene the association’s position on the legislation. “The AAP’s press release on the Research Works Act does not reflect the position of the MIT Press,” the press’s director Ellen Faran wrote in an email making the rounds in open-access circles last week. “We will not, however, withdraw from the AAP on this issue as we value the association’s work over all and the opportunity to participate as a member of the larger and diverse publishing community.” She added her suspicion that other academic presses felt the same way about the Research Works Act, and it turns out she was right.

The Rockefeller University Press, the University of California Press, and the Pennsylvania State University Press all followed the MIT Press’s lead, releasing their own statements rejecting the association’s stance. Throughout last week, open-access advocate Richard Poynder followed the splits on his blog Open and Shut. . . .