User: lukethelibrarian

Nature article incorrect --- RTFBill, please

On: Bill to Require Open Access to Scientific Papers

The Appropriations Bill absolutely does *not* require NIH-funded researchers to "publish research papers only in journals that are made freely available within one year of publication." They can publish wherever they wish. The bill requires them to *also* submit their final peer-reviewed manuscripts to the repository called PubMed Central, and those papers will be made freely available to the public from PubMed Central within one year of publication. Here's the exact text from the House version:

SEC. 221. The Director of the National Institutes of Health shall require that all investigators funded by the NIH submit or have submitted for them to the National Library of Medicine's PubMed Central an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication: Provided, That the NIH shall implement the public access policy in a manner consistent with copyright law.

The Washington Post got it wrong back on the 1st of November, Nature repeated the Post's error, and Slashdot repeated Nature's error.