WHO joins coalition to promote open access to research articles

The WHO is joining a coalition that works to ensure open access to research articles. The partnership, launched last September by several charities and country funding organizations, wants to make publicly and privately funded research easily available through open access journals or made immediately available on other platforms. But getting research journals on board — many of which put articles behind a paywall and rely on the associated fees for a means of income — will remain a challenge. With yesterday’s announcement, the WHO also became the first of the UN agencies to throw its hat into the fight for open access research. “By joining this coalition, we believe we can accelerate progress towards universal free access to health research,” WHO chief scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said in a statement.