Editorial Snapshot: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation reaches open access agreement with Science

– G.A., Senior Editor

Founded in 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is leading the way in venture philanthropy. Supported by a massive endowment, the foundation is involved in the fight against serious global issues ranging from the eradication of communicable diseases to improving nutrition in the world’s poorest countries. In addition to programs “on the ground” in underdeveloped nations, the Gates Foundation also funds a diverse range of scientific research that is being conducted at leading universities. To ensure that the results of this research become available to everyone, even underfunded researchers in developing countries, the Gates Foundation instituted a strict open access policy.

While requiring researchers to publish their findings in open access journals has been viewed as an important and progressive step, it was clear from the enactment of this policy on January 1, 2015, that this requirement would limit the range of journals to which Gates Foundation-funded research could be submitted. Specifically, researchers would be prevented from submitting to Science, Nature, and other leading journals.

Thankfully, in February 2017, the Gates Foundation reached an agreement with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (the publisher of the Science family of journals) that would allow research funded by the Gates Foundation to appear in Science journals with full open access, rather than the usual pay-to-view access. Importantly, this agreement does not include any embargo period during which access is available only to those who pay for a set period of time.

While open access and commercial publishing are often seen as adversaries, both models are focused on the dissemination of research findings. As this agreement demonstrates, proponents of both models should be willing to negotiate in order to ensure that findings that could save hundreds of thousands of lives in underdeveloped countries are made available immediately to those scientists who need them most.

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