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National Day of Action – calling all students!

February 15, 2007 is the National Day of Action for students that support open sharing of scientific and scholarly research findings on the Internet. You can take action by signing this US petition for public access.

The day is organized by Freeculture.org, the international student movement for free culture, in collaboration with the Alliance for Taxpayer Access (ATA) and also marks the fifth anniversary of the landmark Budapest Open Access Initiative, when the worldwide open access movement first took form.

Events across the US will highlight the importance of taxpayer access to publicly funded research and rally support for Congressional passage of the Federal Research Public Access Act.

At PLoS, we have always been committed to the cause of Open Access (OA) and we regularly get out and about in the community to spread the word and empower individuals to get active for the cause.

We recognize, however, that there’s still a lot of work to be done to advance OA at the grass-roots level and beyond, and that partnering with other organizations such as the ATA and Freeculture.org offers the best chance of influencing policy and opinion.

In the spirit of the National Day of Action, PLoS will keep you updated and informed in the OA space and give clear guidance to researchers on how to quickly and effectively take action.

So what can students do to get active for OA?

  • Sign the US petition for public access.
  • Join the Freeculture.org Facebook group
  • Download some of the new buttons and banners that we’ve provided for your blogs, emails, and websites to show others that you support OA and PLoS.
  • Whenever you see this red action alert icon on PLoS sites you can follow the link and take affirmative steps for OA such as signing a petition or calling your local representative.

  • Look out for this blue icon on PLoS sites – it will be linked to educational OA content so you can easily keep informed.

  • If you want to get more involved, contact Donna Okubo.

So watch this space and our sites – and let’s make OA happen!

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