Hello Open Access Week Participants! We have an exciting way for you to get involved in leading real change. As you know, the Obama Administration has been actively considering the issue of Public Access to the results of Federally Funded research for the past several years. We’ve worked hard to make the case that the NIH Public Access Policy has been a true success, and that it should be expanded across all U.S. Federal Science Agencies – responding in force to calls for public comments, participating in stakeholder meetings, supporting FRPAA, and educating both policymaker and members of the public alike.

 

As a result, attention to this issue in Washington is at all all-time high. We now have a brief, critical window of opportunity to demonstrate that we as a community firmly believe should be a high priority for the Administration to act on right now. 

 

To help accomplish this, today, May 21st, a petition calling for Public Access to all Federally Funded Research has been posted to the White House's "We the People" Website. If the petition garners25,000 signatures within 30 days, it will be reviewed by White House staff, and considered for action. 

 

To reach this number of signatures, we urge you to sign the petition today. We also ask you to do all that you can to encourage your colleagues, friends and family to do the same. To sign the petition, you must be at least 13 years old and have a valid email address. That’s all. Signing is easy, it’s fast, and it can have an enormous impact on our chances of expanding access to the results of scientific research that we have helped to fund. 

 

So take some time today to not only sign onto the petition, but to spread the word far and wide. Consider a blog post, an email to constituencies, a Tweet (use hashtag #openaccess), a Facebook share, an action in your library or on your campus - anything that tells as many people as possible "I support this petition, I'm signing this petition, and you should, too."  

 

Thanks in advance for your support for this effort - it is truly a critical time, and taking this action now *can* make a difference!

Short URL to share: http://wh.gov/6TH

Long: https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/#!/petition/require-free-acce...