a cumulative process, and that progress can only be made when researchers can not only see the work that others have done, but also use it—when they can build on prior work to create new knowledge. Likewise, funders understand that their investment in scientific research can only gain in value when the findings of that research are made accessible and allowed to be used to their fullest potential. Journals have long been the main outlet for communicating scientific research results. As the Internet burst onto the scene, it became possible to share these results with the widest possible audience—to share them with anyone, in any place, at anytime. For the first time in history, it is possible to make scientific findings readily accessible to researchers, faculty, and students in academe, and also to the wider universe of users (entrepreneurs, health care providers, small business owners, patients, and other members of the general public) to whom the cost of subscriptions to journals has been an insurmountable barrier. It is also possible for these research findings to be used in new ways in the digital environment that advance the public purposes of research further than ever before. This wider group of stakeholders, particularly entrepreneurs and small to medium-sized business enterprises (SMEs), has the potential to provide an important engine for driving economic development, innovation, and job creation. Removing any barriers that these stakeholders face in gaining access to basic and applied research information is an important step in fueling innovation. The innovative development of new products and services, and of new methods and processes, is widely seen as a driving force of economic growth. Because SMEs are such an integral part of this development process, they are increasingly the focus of government policy. The European Council, for example, recently noted, “Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) form the backbone of the European economy and have the potential to contribute significantly to creating more growth and jobs in the European Union.”1 Research Policy Imperatives Some have argued that journal articles reporting on publicly funded research are of little interest to stakeholders outside of the academy, and that, in any case, these stakeholders have no problem accessing such articles should they want to. RLI 273 27 Public Access to Federally Funded Research ( C O N T I N U E D ) DECEMBER 2010 RESEARCH LIBRARY ISSUES: A BIMONTHLY REPORT FROM ARL, CNI, AND SPARC Removing any barriers that these stakeholders face in gaining access to basic and applied research information is an important step in fueling innovation.
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