The U.S. Office of Management and Budget has recently released a proposed regulation that would put politics in charge of federal grant decision-making, minimize the role of expert advice and peer review, and restrict or prohibit the use of federal research funds to support publishing costs, including publication charges and journal subscriptions.
The International Association of Scientific, Technical & Mechanical Publishers (STM), IPA’s associate member, has expressed concern about the profoundly negative impact that this regulation would have on scientific research and scholarly publishers. STM has already released a public statement opposing the proposal. They are also currently collaborating with their members on a direct comment to the OMB rejecting the proposed changes to federal grant rules and supporting their members in doing the same. In order to facilitate this process, STM has provided a toolkit that guides members in submitting a response to Congress ahead of the deadline of July 13.
Furthermore, STM is hard at work coordinating advocacy efforts with universities, libraries, research organizations, and scientific societies to encourage Congress to weigh in and stop the regulation. To this end, they have organized a sign-on letter to Congress on behalf of 163 scientific societies specifically opposing the prohibition on subscription and publishing charges.
In response to a request for comment from Nature News, STM CEO Caroline Sutton said that “publication costs (around ~1% of total research investment) support the systems and expertise that ensure high-quality research is trusted, accessible, and usable. Removing or restricting that support doesn’t save money; it risks weakening U.S. scientific competitiveness, adding bureaucracy, and undermining the independent exchange of ideas that underpins high-quality research.”