Open Pharma recently released its Position Statement on Open Access, which advocates that access to pharmaceutical company-funded research should not be restricted by journal paywalls. The Position Statement points out that approximately half of all biomedical research is funded by pharmaceutical companies.1
In the Position Statement, Open Pharma sets out its immediate priority and long-term goal, as follows:
- “Our immediate priority is to secure authors publishing company-funded research the same right to publish open access as authors publishing research funded by other sources, so that all research can be made free to read from the date of publication.”
- “Our long-term goal is to secure authors publishing company-funded research the same terms as authors publishing research funded by other sources, so that all research can be made free to read – and reuse – from the date of publication.”
The Position Statement on Open Access reflects the values of ISMPP, and the Society supports the direction that it sets forth for open access publishing of company-funded research. ISMPP, similar to Open Pharma, remains optimistic that all research, including science produced by pharmaceutical organizations, will have equal opportunity for open access publication in peer-review journals and is supportive of efforts to achieve this outcome.
The Position Statement on Open Access can be viewed on the Open Pharma website.
Open Pharma is comprised of pharmaceutical companies and other research funders, along with healthcare professionals, regulators, patients, publishers, and other stakeholders in healthcare.
Reference
1 Dorsey ER, de Roulet J, Thompson JP et al. Funding of US biomedical research, 2003–2008. JAMA 2010;303:137–43.