The Group proposes the following set of principles for organizations and individuals to evaluate legislative proposals that affect the use of scientific databases. Science is an investment in the public interest. Through research and education, scientists foster the creation and dissemination of knowledge. This can have profound effects on the well being of people and the economies of the world. Science is a critical public investment in our future, a resource with extraordinary dividends.
Scientific advances rely on full and open access to data.
Both science and the public are well served by a system of scholarly research and communication with minimal constraints on the availability of data for further analysis. The tradition of full and open access to data has led to breakthroughs in scientific understanding, as well as to later economic and public policy benefits. The idea that an individual or organization can control access to or claim ownership of the facts of nature is foreign to science. A market model for access to data is unsuitable for research and education. Science is a cooperative, rather than a competitive, enterprise.