In an ambitious attempt to make scientific knowledge and data available to all, the government has proposed an ‘open science policy’ that will ensure that the results of, and information generated by, all publicly-funded research is freely accessible by everyone.
More significantly, the government has proposed to buy bulk subscriptions of all important scientific journals across the world, and provide everyone in India free access to them.
The proposals have been made in the draft Science, Technology and Innovation Policy that was released on New Year’s Day, for inviting comments and suggestions from the public.
The ‘One Nation, One Subscription’ policy for scientific journals is a radical move that could be a game changer for the scientific community and individual researchers. The world’s best scientific journals are expensive, and sometimes even one article can cost several tens of dollars to access. Even top institutions have to be selective in subscribing to these journals.