This week is Open Access week. The goal is to make research more open and available to students both while in college and after so that learning can continue no matter where a student is.
With unanimous support, the Student Senate passed this resolution on Tuesday, October 20:
Resolution in Support of the Student Statement on the Right to Research
WHEREAS, writing research papers is a requirement of many St. Olaf College courses; and
WHEREAS, such assignments require access to articles published in academic journals; and
WHEREAS, student access to scholarly literature is primarily provided by subscriptions through the St. Olaf College libraries; and
WHEREAS, the high cost of academic journals – in some fields, more than $20,000 per year for a single journal subscription – restricts access to knowledge; and
WHEREAS, the cost of these subscriptions has been accelerating at a rate greater than inflation for the past decades; and
WHEREAS, authors of scholarly articles are not paid for their work, with journal profits accruing solely to the publishers; and
WHEREAS, the majority of research funding comes from public sources, supported by taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, all students deserve access to the full body of published scholarly literature; and
WHEREAS, “open access” is an alternative to the traditional closed, subscription-access system of scholarly communication; and
WHEREAS, open access provides free online access to the results of scholarly research while maintaining quality controls, such as peer review; and
WHEREAS, several national and international student organizations and student governments have developed the Student Statement on the Right to Research to explain student interests in the scholarly communications system and to rally students in support of open access; then
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the students of St. Olaf College endorse the Student Statement on the Right to Research and open access to academic research; and
THEREFORE, BE IT FUTHER RESOLVED that the students of the St. Olaf College’s Student Government Association’s Senate call on St. Olaf’s administration, governments and research funders, researchers, and fellow students to support open access to academic research.
For the Word Document of the exact resolution passed, click here.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 | Student Senate
