Open Access Letter #1
Date:
The Honorable [full name]
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
(or)
The Honorable [full name]
U. S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Representative [last name] (or Senator [last name]):
I am writing you today as a resident of ___________ [city, state in XXth Congressional District].
I am asking for your support for an “Open Access” program that places all peer-reviewed,
taxpayer-funded medical research accepted for journal publication in a publicly accessible
archive. From my standpoint, Open Access will give the ever-expanding millions of Americans
searching the Internet access to credible, peer-reviewed research to better inform our
healthcare decisions. I understand that the National Institutes of Health is considering just such
a smart solution.
Placing taxpayer-funded research in a public archive provides practical access to hard-to-find
research by our physicians, other public health professionals, and disease advocacy groups. I
believe this initiative will also help students, teachers, and scientists at thousands of academic
institutions, including hospitals, research laboratories, and corporate research centers
throughout the country by ensuring their access to the latest medical research.
Currently, the vast majority of research funded with public dollars is available only through
increasingly costly subscriptions (often more than $10,000 annually), institutional licenses (more
than a million dollars annually for many universities), or per article purchases (as much as $30
for each). Instead, open access will allow timely and practical access to this research, which is
essential for all of us to benefit from this investment and enhances the vitality of this important
resource.
Open access will remove unnecessary barriers by making the results of taxpayer-funded
research available online, upon publication, and for no extra charge to the American public. I
sincerely hope you will support efforts to create such an overdue program. I look forward to
hearing from you very soon.
Sincerely,
DCIMAN1 52941v1
Open Access Letter #2
Date:
The Honorable [full name]
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
(or)
The Honorable [full name]
U. S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Representative [last name] (or Senator [last name]):
I am writing you today as a resident of ___________ [city, state in XXth Congressional District].
As a citizen committed to the wise use of every tax dollar, I am asking you today for your help in
reforming the way we make the best possible use of federally-funded investments in vital
medical research.
Currently, the vast majority of biomedical research funded with public dollars is available only
through increasingly costly subscriptions, institutional licenses, or per article purchases. This
practice leaves almost all American taxpayers with meager access to the nation’s investment in
federal research including that of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). We can do much better
with a system of “Open Access.”
It is clear that Open Access makes a difference by allowing millions of Americans searching the
Internet to have access to the credible, peer-reviewed research to inform their healthcare
decisions. The public value recently was best shown when the National Library of Medicine
(NLM) shifted its former fee-based search system for biomedical research citations (Medline)
into the free, publicly-accessible system known as PubMed, located at www.pubmed.gov and
maintained by the NLM at NIH. Even though it provided access only to brief abstracts of
published medical research, use of PubMed increased 100-fold once the Medline material
became freely available—an extraordinary public service.
We can continue this increase in service to the average American by placing all peer-reviewed,
NIH research accepted for journal publication in a publicly accessible archive such as PubMed
Central (www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov). Placing research the taxpayer has helped to fund in a
public archive will provide access to physicians and other public health professionals, disease
interest groups, students, teachers, and scientists at thousands of academic institutions,
including hospitals, research laboratories, and corporate research centers throughout the
country, as well as to the nation’s global health partners.
As the nation’s health care costs continue to climb, doesn’t it make practical sense to save costs
in sharing vital medical information by reducing barriers to access? I hope you will agree to
support open access to research for American taxpayers by supporting the creation of such a
program through the NIH.
Thanks for your consideration, and I look forward to having your response.
Sincerely,
DCIMAN1 52941v1
Open Access Letter #3
Date:
The Honorable [full name]
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
(or)
The Honorable [full name]
U. S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Representative [last name] (or Senator [last name]):
I am writing you today as a resident of ___________ [city, state in XXth Congressional District].
I am extremely concerned that needless barriers prevent most Americans from obtaining access
to the results of biomedical research paid for with their hard-earned tax dollars, including that of
the National Institutes of Health (NIH) whose budget was doubled in the last five years.
As a constituent associated with [name of university or research institution], I believe the
widespread dissemination of advanced knowledge is critical to maintaining the vitality of our
nation’s investment in research. I hope you agree.
Currently, the vast majority of research funded with public dollars is available only through
increasingly costly subscriptions, institutional licenses, or per article purchases. Continued
maintenance of this system gives a very poor return on our nation’s investment in science
research.
The time has come to take the next practical step and offer the public full access to the
biomedical research that we’ve funded with federal dollars. “Open Access” will remove needless
barriers by making the results of taxpayer-funded research available online, upon publication,
and for no extra charge to the American public. We can accomplish this service for the average
American by placing all peer-reviewed, taxpayer-funded research accepted for journal
publication in a free, publicly accessible digital archive such as PubMed Central run by the
NIH’s National Library of Medicine and available online at www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov.
Please join me in providing open access to research for all American taxpayers by supporting
such an overdue program. Timely access to this research is essential for Americans to benefit
from our investment and for our nation to increase the vitality of this key resource. Thank you for
your consideration of this request; I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Open Access Letter #4
DCIMAN1 52941v1
Date:
The Honorable [full name]
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
(or)
The Honorable [full name]
U. S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Representative [last name] (or Senator [last name]):
I am writing you today as a resident of ___________ [city, state in XXth Congressional District].
First, as an advocate for expanding our federal commitment to biomedical research, I am
grateful to Congress for doubling the budget for our National Institutes of Health (NIH) over the
past five years. This is a significant advance for the health of all Americans.
I am seriously troubled, however, that most Americans do not have practical access to this
taxpayer-funded research. I am writing you today to ask your help in reforming this practice by
supporting “Open Access.”
Currently, the vast majority of research funded with public dollars is available only through
increasingly costly subscriptions, institutional licenses, or per article purchases. Continued
maintenance of this system leaves the American taxpayer with meager access to our nation’s
investment in federal research. This means that many fewer citizens, physicians, researchers,
students and public institutions can afford to share in path-breaking new studies, which reduces
the possible return on the public’s investment.
An Open Access practice would make all the difference—by placing all peer-reviewed,
taxpayer-funded research accepted for journal publication in a free, publicly accessible digital
archive run by the NIH’s National Library of Medicine (NLM) (www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov). The
public value recently was revealed when the NLM shifted its former fee-based search system for
biomedical research citations (Medline) into the free, publicly-accessible system known as
PubMed, located at www.pubmed.gov and maintained by the NLM at NIH. Even though it
provided access only to brief abstracts of published medical research, use of PubMed increased
100-fold once the Medline material became freely available—an extraordinary public service.
I believe it is vital for Congress to support biomedical research with our tax dollars, but I strongly
disagree that we should pay twice to benefit directly from access to this research. I hope you
think so, too, and will support Congressional and NIH efforts to adopt open access policies in
the near-term. I look forward to hearing from you very soon.
Sincerely,
Open Access Letter #5
Date:
DCIMAN1 52941v1
The Honorable [full name]
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
(or)
The Honorable [full name]
U. S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Representative [last name] (or Senator [last name]):
I am writing you today as a resident of ___________ [city, state in XXth Congressional District].
As a citizen who is personally concerned with the growing incidence of [disease such as cancer,
Alzheimer’s, heart disease, Parkinson’s, etc.], I am grateful for all Congress can do to support
the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a commitment to biomedical research.
However, as a taxpayer, I am distressed to know how often Americans are denied practical
access to cutting edge medical research when they, like me, are seeking more information to
make healthcare decisions for themselves and their families. I believe it’s time to reform this
practice by implementing “Open Access.” We can do this with your support.
An example Open Access policy would be to place all peer-reviewed, taxpayer-funded research
accepted for journal publication into a free, publicly accessible, digital archive such as PubMed
Central, which is run by the NIH’s National Library of Medicine and available online at
www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov.
Today, as patient advocates have discovered, the vast majority of research funded with public
dollars is available only through increasingly costly subscriptions, institutional licenses, or per
article purchases. Continued maintenance of this system leaves almost all American taxpayers
with meager access to our nation’s investment in federal research. This means that many fewer
citizens, physicians, researchers, students, and public institutions can afford to share in pathbreaking new studies. This also hampers our progress in developing new patient therapies and
finding cures, which reduces the possible return on our investment in this research.
Again, to battle disease, it is vital for Congress to support biomedical research with our tax
dollars, but I strongly disagree we should pay twice to benefit directly from practical access to
this research. I hope you will support Congressional and NIH efforts to adopt open access
policies as the right answer. I look forward to hearing from you very soon.
Sincerely,
DCIMAN1 52941v1