SCOAP3 Project Progresses
November 5, 2012
By Heather Joseph.
After an intense period of behind-the-scenes effort, CERN's open access, library, purchasing, and legal staff, along with the SCOAP global Steering Committee and Technical Working Group, secured with leading publishers the participation in principle of 12 HEP (full or partial) journals; developed a project governance structure; crafted a framework for performing calculations for subscription reduction and re-direction; and are putting into place a series of National Contact Persons (NCPs), who are responsible for securing participation from libraries, library consortia, research institutions, and funding agencies in their countries.
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R2RC Partners with PhD Comics for Open Access Week Video!
October 26, 2012
By Andrea Higginbotham.

To close Open Access Week 2012, we’re excited to announce our video collaboration with PhD Comics to produce “Open Access Explained!”.   The comic-style animated video is a great resource to explain the basics of Open Access and why it’s important to friends, family, and colleagues. Take a look, and help us spread the word about Open Access throughout the research community and to the public at large! 

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Open Access Week 2012 in Full Swing
October 23, 2012
By Heather Joseph.
Open Access Week 2012 is underway, and we here at SPARC are watching with delight as the buzz from the announcements, events, contests, launches, and just plain cool activities underway in the community continues to grow.
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SUNY Potsdam Takes Tough Stand Against American Chemical Society Prices
October 18, 2012
By Heather Joseph.
Many of you have heard about the SUNY-Potsdam library's recent experiences in trying to navigate continued price increases to the American Chemical Society journals' subscriptions. SPARC's Caralee Adams highlights the struggle and outcome with an in-depth profile of the Director of Libraries, Jenica Rogers.
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Advocates Set Ambitious Goal: Setting the Default to Open Access in Ten Years’ Time
September 12, 2012
By Heather Joseph.
Ten years ago, a small group of activists convened in Budapest to discuss ways for the academic community to come together and work to make all research articles in all academic fields freely available online. The participants (which included SPARC’s Founding Executive Director, Rick Johnson) represented a wide variety of academic disciplines, national affiliations, and points of view. All were involved in efforts to create a more open system of scholarly communication.
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A Tribute to Lee Dirks
August 30, 2012
By Heather Joseph.
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Wikimedia Endorses OA Petition and Next Steps
May 25, 2012


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Sign the White House Petition on Open Access to Research Today!
May 21, 2012
By Heather Joseph.
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 garners 25,000 signatures within 30 days, it will be reviewed by White House staff, and considered for action. 
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FPRAA takes Center Stage at Congressional Hearing
March 30, 2012
By Andrea Higginbotham.
Open access issues are clearly on the minds of U.S. lawmakers. Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight conducted a hearing on the topic “Examining Public Access and Scholarly Publication Interests.” The hearing was designed to generate information regarding open access in general, but quickly turned into a discussion of the recently-reintroduced Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA).
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FRPAA in the Spotlight: Public Access Bill featured in Congressional Briefing, Two Dozen Bipartisan Co-sponsors add their Support.
March 20, 2012
By Heather Joseph.
Fresh on the heels of yesterday’s well-attended Congressional briefing on the issue of public access to the results of taxpayer funded research, 24 new bipartisan co-sponsors have officially been added to the roster of supporters for H.R. 4004, The Federal Research Public Access Act. 
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Bipartisan Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) Continues to Gain Support in Congress
May 1, 2012
By Andrea Higginbotham.
Good news for supporters of open access to the results of taxpayer funded research this week, as Members of Congress continue to express their support for the proposed legislation.
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SPARC’s First Open Access Meeting a Success
March 15, 2012
By Andrea Higginbotham.
SPARC just wrapped up a very successful first-ever Open Access (OA) Meeting in Kansas City, MO. This meeting built on the foundation established by the popular SPARC Digital Repositories meeting, and its expanded focus included information on institutional OA policies, author rights, and OA publishing. The 250 (very active!) participants represented librarians, researchers, publishers, and technologists from around the globe. The meeting program was designed to inspire the community and foster opportunities for collaborative action on all issues relating to open access.
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Sponsors and Supporters back away from Research Works Act
February 27, 2012
By Heather Joseph.
Earlier today, Elsevier issued a statement withdrawing its support of the Research Works Act (RWA), a bill designed to overturn the popular NIH Public Access Policy, and prohibit the adoption of similar policies by other federal agencies.
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Prime Time for Public Access
February 9, 2012
By Heather Joseph.
Over the past several months, a remarkable series of events have conspired to bring the issue of access to publicly funded research squarely to the forefront of the public consciousness.
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Take Action: Oppose H.R. 3699, a new bill to block public access to publicly funded research
January 6, 2012
By Heather Joseph.
A new bill, The Research Works Act (H.R.3699), designed to roll back the NIH Public Access Policy and block the development of similar policies at other federal agencies has been introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives. Supporters of public access to the results of publicly funded research need to speak out against this proposed legislation. Contact Congress to express your opposition today, or as soon as possible.
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