NIH-funded research to be published on-line for free, academic journals concerned

The US Congress is considering legislation that would require the authors of scientific articles that have received National Institutes of Health grants to submit their papers for free public inspection on the federal agency's web site. Copyright advocates claim this will reduce intellectual property protection and harm the peer-reviewed journals' economic viability, Technology Today reports. The legislation was approved by the House of Representatives in a spending bill for the NIH (HR3043).

The dispute mirrors similar demands by anti-patent advocates who argue that drug companies benefit from research that is funded by the NIH, without adequate compensation being made to taxpayers, from whose funds the drug industry allegedly benefits. This position, which is widely held in the general media and by the public, is challenged by Derek Lowe, a drug industry commentator.

Mr Lowe noted: "that idea seems pretty indestructible, although you'd think it would at least be dented by talking to people who actually try to develop drugs." He added: "I have a recent example coming up of an academic compound which may well do exciting things in a dish, but has as much chance of becoming a drug as I do of becoming an Olympic pole-vault champion."