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As many of you, my readers, are interested in Open Access publishing and have given it quite some thought over time, I think you are the right kind of people to contribute to this in a thoughtful and persuasive manner. Please do it.

From everyONE blog:

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has invited comment on broadening public access to publicly funded research and they want to hear from you. Please post your contributions to this blog.

Their Request for Information (RFI) lasts for just 30 days and expires on 7 January 2010, so we'd like to encourage you to get involved sooner rather than later. This is an opportunity for us to shape a broader public access policy - how it should be implemented, what type of technology and features are needed, and how to manage the process.

Adding your thoughts to the blog will help ensure that the administration form a balanced (the comment thread is moderated) view of stakeholders' interest. E-mail comments will also be accepted and will be posted to the blog by the moderators.

There are 3 main topics where the administration would appreciate your input (they also welcome general comments) and each one is open for a set period of time:

1. Implementation - expires 20 December 2009. Which Federal agencies are good candidates to adopt Public Access policies? What variables (field of science, proportion of research funded by public or private entities, etc.) should affect how public access is implemented at various agencies, including the maximum length of time between publication and public release?

2. Features and Technology - 21-31 December 2009. In what format should the data be submitted in order to make it easy to search and retrieve information, and to make it easy for others to link to it? Are there existing digital standards for archiving and interoperability to maximize public benefit? How are these anticipated to change?

3. Management - 1-7 January 2010. What are the best mechanisms to ensure compliance? What would be the best metrics of success? What are the best examples of usability in the private sector (both domestic and international)? Should those who access papers be given the opportunity to comment or provide feedback?