Read the Open Letter
The Public Library of Science initiative began with the circulation of the following open letter, urging scientific publishers to allow the research reports that have appeared in their journals to be distributed freely by independent, online public libraries of science.
Our deadline of September 2001 has passed, so you may no longer sign the letter. However, you may still browse the list of signatories. There are many ways you can currently support the Public Library of Science and the open access movement.
Open Letter to Scientific Publishers
We support the establishment of an online public library that would provide the full contents of the published record of research and scholarly discourse in medicine and the life sciences in a freely accessible, fully searchable, interlinked form. Establishment of this public library would vastly increase the accessibility and utility of the scientific literature, enhance scientific productivity, and catalyze integration of the disparate communities of knowledge and ideas in biomedical sciences.
We recognize that the publishers of our scientific journals have a legitimate right to a fair financial return for their role in scientific communication. We believe, however, that the permanent, archival record of scientific research and ideas should neither be owned nor controlled by publishers, but should belong to the public and should be freely available through an international online public library.
To encourage the publishers of our journals to support this endeavor, we pledge that, beginning in September 2001, we will publish in, edit or review for, and personally subscribe to only those scholarly and scientific journals that have agreed to grant unrestricted free distribution rights to any and all original research reports that they have published, through PubMed Central and similar online public resources, within 6 months of their initial publication date.
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