Information Society Watch

November 29, 2006, Frederick Noronha, SciDev.net

At a workshop in Bangalore, India, a set of guidelines for free access of publicly funded research in developing countries was put forward by scientists from Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India and South Africa. The guidelines premise that open access may help to level the scientific playing field despite the fact that work done by scientists in the developing world has been virtually invisible to those in developed countries. The policy pushes governments to require that all publicly funded research published in peer-reviewed journals be deposited in an institutional digital database for facilitating wide dissemination. Government policymakers hold immense power in determining the reach of scientific research, by either making research instantly available or withholding it. The policy aims to reduce the financial barriers that prevent researchers in developing countries from accessing the research information and envisions that developing nations can become leaders in open access.

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