Preprints.org response to OSTP memorandum
Preprints.org supports the recent memorandum from the US White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) that calls for “free, immediate, and equitable access to federally funded research” [1]. This policy benefits not only the research community but also the public, who can now have direct access to federally funded research without embargo periods or additional paywalls. Sharing of knowledge freely will accelerate science and promote discovery and collaboration.
The power of sharing knowledge to advance research and development has recently been highlighted by the COVID pandemic. Sharing of research findings directly benefited patients and led to better treatment options for critical cases [2] and has further highlighted the benefit of Open Access initiatives and the need for governmental agencies to follow through.
Preprints provide a unique opportunity for researchers to share their results as soon as they are available. Free to post and update as new discoveries emerge and free to access by the public, preprints by nature already fulfill the policy outlined by the OSTP memorandum. We encourage funding agencies and libraries at U.S. institutions to encourage researchers to distribute their research via preprint repositories as rapid dissemination of research, freely accessible by all, promotes innovation.
To advance Open Science and the fast dissemination of research, MDPI offers researchers a free multidisciplinary preprint platform, Preprints.org [3]. This platform accepts submissions from all research areas and offers authors high visibility, permanent archiving, article-level metrics, and immediately citable content by assigning a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to all preprints. All submissions to Preprints.org are available online within 48 hours, ensuring all research can be downloaded, shared, commented on, and cited.
Reference
1 Nelson A. Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies: Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research[J]. 2022.
2 Horby P. Why preprints are good for patients[J]. Nature Medicine, 2022, 28(6): 1109-1109.
3 Preprints.org. Available online: https://www.preprints.org
Contact
Dr. Ioana Craciun
