25 October 2007

O(A) Look: Now There's a Surprise

As I've mentioned, getting OA to US-funded research is proving incredibly difficult. Here's one reason why:

In a list of Sen. James Inhofe's top contributors for the 2001-2006 Senate election cycle, Opensecrets.Org identifies Reed Elsevier Inc. as his 11th largest contributor, with $13,250 in contributions. Opensecrets.Org notes:

The organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organization's PAC, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.

Before he withdrew them, Sen. Inhofe was the sponsor of two amendments to delete or weaken the NIH Open Access Mandate in the FY 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill.

I'm almost ashamed to have worked for Reed Elsevier long, long ago.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

*stupid question from a n00b(
whats OA?

Glyn Moody said...
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Glyn Moody said...
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Glyn Moody said...

Not a stupid question at all - my apologies for not explaining.

It's open access - the idea that taxpayers should have free access to the work they pay for, for example by being able to download scientific papers from the Internet.

Here's a very good intro to the subject.

Hope that helps.