Elsevier Backs Off RWA Support; Still Opposes Mandated Open Access

Scientific journal publisher Elsevier today withdrew its support for the Research Works Act (RWA), a bill which would have prohibited open access mandates for federally funded research. The publisher had been the target of a boycott among academics, as LJ reported. At press time, 7,486 researchers had pledged not to publish, referee or do editorial work for Elsevier’s journals. The Act was also opposed by the American Library Association (ALA) and the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), among many others. Representative Mike Doyle recently introduced an opposing bill, the Federal Research Public Access Act.

Just hours after Elsevier withdrew its support from the legislation, Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, RWA sponsor, issued a joint statement that the bill will not move forward, according to Alexander Howard, Washington correspondent, O’Reilly Media...