... Since the Bermuda Principles were agreed to in 1996, all genome sequencing centers have submitted their data, from raw sequence data to finished sequence to assemblies to annotation, to public repositories as quickly after generation as possible. ...
If the rapid release described in the Bermuda Principles still holds true, why does it only apply to large-scale sequencing centers? Many researchers are generating more sequence in a month than the Human Genome Project was able to produce in a year. As they continue to be allowed to perform pre-publication (as opposed to post-generation) data submission, why are they not being held to the same standard as the large-scale sequencing centers? ...
The human reference has been published (with a recent update to GRCh37). The blueprint exists. Thus, many of the reasons underlying the conclusions of the Bermuda Principles are no longer applicable. So should those open access principles be applied more widely to other areas of biology and science at large or should they no longer apply to sequence data from a genome for which a reference exists? It is time to rethink the current policies and begin to apply them to all sequence generators. And people are doing just that. The double standard must end.
Posted by
Gavin Baker at 6/11/2009 02:31:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
