Sharing the benefits of government-funded research

The Wall Street Journal Health blog commented that the spending bill President Bush signed last week included a provision that researchers have long been fighting for: NIH-funded research results need to be posted online, for free, one year after the results are published in an academic journal http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2007/12/27/congress-gives-fda-a-raise-sets-information-free/.

This is an exciting development for researchers. Academic institutions have financial limitations to how many journals and databases to which they can subscribe. Having access to emerging research data from NIH-funded research in a searchable, accessible database will facilitate medical research and encourage collaboration.