Source: Sara Greene

Tax-payer money is used to fund a variety of entitlement programs along with other government initiatives. How the money is spent is determined through both Houses of Congress. Anyone with a reasonable internet connection can access a wide range of Congressional hearings on YouTube, by just searching for the respective Congressional committee's channel. While this is known, Americans (in the majority) still do not understand the types of programs which are funded by tax-payer money. Why not? The results of spending tax-payer money are hidden behind "pay-walls" of publishing companies -- that is until recently.

Over the past few years, European countries have been stepping up pressure through negotiations to move the results of scientific research (which is tax-payer funded) to an open-access form. Publishers are adamantly against such endeavors because they stand to lose out on large amounts of money. Further, the American public is not allowed to read about exciting scientific results along with the rest of the world. No wonder that there is such a wide gap between the public and scientists knowledge of science -- to start with?

Make Scientific Results Open-Access

They are making the research that is funded by tax-payer money public would be a first step in closing the gap between knowledge held by scientists and the public. Although to do so would take quite a move on the part of the major players in the field of science. Who are such players? Universities, government laboratories to name two. Private industry would play a role too -- although, not as large as that of the entire university system across the world.

As I mentioned up top, a couple of European countries (Sweden) have been debating canceling subscriptions with high impact publishers who hold scientific research behind paywalls. An entire consortium of universities and research institutions in Sweden recently announced that subscriptions would be canceled soon. Earlier this month, the university system in the United States -- University of Californi -- announced to follow suit:

The University of California has ended its subscription to journals published by Elsevier, citing a failure to reach an agreement that would lower fees and prioritize open access to its scholars’ work, the UC system announced yesterday (February 28). The decision to stop paying for access to Elsevier’s journals came after eight months of contract negotiations.

The university system’s previous contract with the publishing giant expired on December 31, and the research heavyweight, accounting for nearly 10 percent of research output in the US, aimed to secure a deal to pay a one-time fee that covered both journal subscriptions and the processing fees to make UC researchers’ articles open access for all readers.

The break with Elsevier is part of UC’s push for free access to publicly funded research. “I fully support our faculty, staff and students in breaking down paywalls that hinder the sharing of groundbreaking research,” says UC President Janet Napolitano in a statement. “This issue does not just impact UC, but also countless scholars, researchers and scientists across the globe — and we stand with them in their push for full, unfettered access.”

Last year, groups of research labs and universities in Sweden and Germany canceled their subscriptions with Elsevier over open access. This stand by UC makes it one of the first and largest US institutions to do so.

The move is ambitious and bold on behalf of the university system in the United States. Hopefully, the remainder of the universities in the United States possesses the courage to follow suit. Some steps are needed to raise public awareness of science. The first step would be to have access to tax-payer funded research results. Followed by an increased dialogue between scientists and the public at community forums. The ability to be able to read about science without having to pay twice is imperative for society. American citizens who pay taxes own the results of scientific research. The time has come to make them available to the public.

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