The US Department of Energy has announced its mechanism for providing free public access to scholarly articles that result from research it funds: a collaboration with CHORUS (Clearinghouse for the Open Research of the United States), a private-sector consortium of journal publishers that includes the American Institute of Physics, publisher of Physics Today. Under the system, which will take effect with grants funded beginning 1 October, DOE’s Office of Science and Technical Information (OSTI) will provide links to agency-funded articles that are archived on publishers’ websites. Those articles will become freely available beginning one year after the date of publication. Between 20 000 and 30 000 articles and manuscripts from agency-sponsored research are published each year, according to a DOE statement. The inaugural CHORUS member publishers already host more than 80% of that content, estimates Fred Dylla, AIP’s executive director, and a membership drive is underway for more.
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