[Ip-health] Petition: support public access to medical research

[Benjamin Krohmal]

Knowledge Ecology International is a sponsor of this petition
campaign supporting free online access to publicly funded U.S.
medical (and other scientific) research.  The petition is open to
both individuals and organizations from around the world - including
those who previously signed on in support of our letter to the U.S.
Senate on this issue.

If the petition is successful, it will mean more medical
breakthroughs by making it easier for the right information into the
hands of the right scientists,  and it will offer significant
benefits for researchers and medical schools in developing and middle
income countries.  Please sign and circulate:

http://www.publicaccesstoresearch.org

Thanks much,

Ben


Details:

Momentum for public access to publicly funded research reached a
height last month with the celebration of a National Day of Action by
students across the U.S. and the presentation of over 21,000
individual and organizational signatures to the European Union's
Commissioner for Science and Research.

To build on this momentum, several leading American organizations -
representing libraries, health groups, students, and consumers - are
jointly supporting a Petition for Public Access to Publicly Funded
Research in the United States.

This petition, which is open to supporters around the world, will
demonstrate clearly to U.S. policymakers the depth and breadth of
support for access to federally funded research in the United States.
As U.S. lawmakers consider policies and legislation to advance public
access, it is critical that supporters step forward and be counted.

Even if you signed the European petition, it's important that you
sign the U.S. petition as well. Here's why:
The European Commission petition was written explicitly to support
Recommendation A1 of the EC's Study on the Economic and Technical
Evolution of the Scientific Publication Markets of Europe.
The U.S. petition is written to support public access to research
funded by the U.S. government as well as the reintroduction and
passage of the Federal Research Public Access Act.
The U.S. petition collects state-specific information, which is
essential to making the case for public access to individual lawmakers.
The Petition for Public Access to Publicly Funded Research in the
United States (http://www.publicaccesstoresearch.org) is open to
individuals and organizations of all types. If you are a researcher
whose work is funded by the federal government, your signature is
especially important since it shows that you want your work to be
shared and used.

Please distribute this message and invite your members, friends, and
colleagues to sign the petition immediately in order that as much
progress as possible may be made in the 110th Congress.

Sincerely,

Heather Joseph

Executive Director, SPARC

P.S. - Please don't delay. Visit (http://
www.publicaccesstoresearch.org) now and add your name to the list of
public access supporters. Then ask your friends and colleagues to do
the same.



Benjamin Krohmal
Coordinator - Project on Medical Innovation
Knowledge Ecology International
Tel: +1-202-332-2670 ex. 14
Fax: +1-202-332-2673
ben.krohmal@keionline.org