Open Access Turf War

eSchool News online - Open-access bill divides schools, publishers

Universities and publishers of scholarly journals are at odds over a recently proposed Senate bill that would require institutions conducting research funded with federal tax dollars to publish their findings free of charge online, no more than six months after their publication elsewhere.

If passed, the open-access legislation could put an additional strain on campus IT infrastructures, as colleges and universities would be forced to post many of their research results on the web. But universities and education groups overwhelmingly support the bill, believing it will further the advancement of knowledge worldwide.

Publishers of scholarly journals, on the other hand, fear the bill will undermine their business.