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Leaders or followers? It’s time for health faculty to open up

Canada is home to many of the world’s leading advocates of open access, and much of their work has been initiated from within the library community. In contrast, Canadian leaders in health care research, education, and clinical care have been disappointingly complacent in the movement to broaden the reach of their knowledge. Why is it that so many who entered their chosen fields with the lofty goal of improving human health have been slow to embrace an important initiative that can support this very goal? 
 
When the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) introduced a policy in 2007 requiring that CIHR-funded research output be made freely available1 — a policy consistent with other major research funders internationally — there was little celebration among those whom the policies affect. Yet open access publishing allows anyone with an Internet connection to read, use, and distribute health research and analysis, ensuring that those who need information can access it. Access is no longer limited to academics with expensive institutional journal subscriptions. 
 
We believe it is time for our academic health care institutions to step up their commitment to the open access movement. October 14, 2008 — the world’s first Open Access Day — seems like a prime opportunity for Canadian health care academics and institutions to become leaders rather than followers. 
 
In affirming their commitment and support for open access publishing and its contribution to better health care, we call on health science faculties to work toward the following objectives: