I’m delighted to learn that David Willetts, the minister of state for universities and science, will tomorrow announce plans to make publicly funded research accessible to readers free of charge, most possibly in public libraries.

He believes that as his department spends about £5 billion each year funding academic research to further human knowledge and discover, the public has a right to read it.  I welcome his view that giving people the right to roam freely over publicly funded research will drive forward a new ear of academic discovery and collaboration, putting the UK at the forefront of open research.

I wonder if the policy will win the support of Times commentator William Rees-Mogg who gave scathing views after the medical research charity, the Wellcome Trust,  announced that it was making scientific research free to all and launching a free-to-view journal to compete with Nature and Science, the leading paid-for academic science journals.

Fair enough, he declared a personal interest as an academic publisher, but accusing the Trust’s director, Sir Mark Walport, of “an aggressive attitude” because of his intentions to take “a robust approach” and ensure that their research is freely available to the public within six months of publication, was way over the top.

He must understand that scientists can only make ground breaking discoveries to help conquer disease, from Alzheimer’s and cancer, to malaria and HIV, by working collaboratively. This could lead to opportunities of fantastic new medical discoveries being made.

I am currently working on a project for GÉANT the pan-European research and education network that provides internet access for Europe’s National Research and Education Networks at speeds of 40 Gbps, with planned upgrades to an astonishing 100 Gbps this summer. They are providing the high speed connectivity around the world to enable Big Science to be shared globally, including the Large Hadron Collider  at Cern.

What we need now is pharmas to adopt a similar open approach. It doesn’t make sense for them not to share their findings, instead of repeating the same trials without realising they are futile.

Will the day ever come when they adopt the same policy as the Wellcome Trust which states:

All those seeking Wellcome Trust funding should consider their approach for managing and sharing data at the research proposal stage.In cases where the proposed research is likely to generate data outputs that will hold significant value as a resource for the wider research community, applicants will be required to submit a data management and sharing plan to the Wellcome Trust prior to an award bring made.