From the Science Commons blog:

Last month’s National Day of Action for Open Access raised awareness on college campuses nationwide about public access for taxpayer-funded research. Coinciding with this outpouring of support was the presentation of over 24,000 signatures from around the world in support of open access to European research, presented to the European Commission.

The momentum achieved was tremendous, but is only the beginning.

Building off of the tens of thousands of signatories of the European petition, a number of leading American organizations are backing the Petition for Public Access to Publicly Funded Research in the United States.

In signing this petition, whether as an individual or as an organization, you pledge your support for free and open access to research paid for by your tax dollars. We hope that this will demonstrate to leading policy makers and officials just how important this issue is. Doing so just may help change existing policies.

We here at Science Commons encourage you to join us and over 1,870 other signatories in showing your support.

To sign the petition, click here. For more information on current poicies and legislation regarding public access to taxpayer-funded research, including the Federal Research Public Access Act, visit the ATA’s Web site.