New Delhi, August 29, 2019:
WHO has a long history of making health information and evidence widely accessible. One of the first milestones on this journey was the Hinari Access to Research for Health Programme, which was set up by WHO in 2002 and today provides access to 15 000 medical journals for health workers and researchers in 120 countries. In 2014, WHO introduced its policy on open access to ensure that journal articles and book chapters authored or co-authored by WHO staff members or produced by researchers funded by the Organization were freely available in Europe PubMed Central. This policy was extended in 2016 to ensure all WHO publications are freely available in the WHO Institutional Repository for Information Sharing (IRIS).
There are many open-access publishing platforms now where authors can ensure their works are widely available. One of the research programmes within WHO’s new Science Division, the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), has developed one such open-access publishing platform. TDR Gateway provides greater opportunities to TDR-supported researchers to publish the results of their work and to make them available to the public for free.
“There are numerous challenges for researchers, and sadly, one of these is limited access to current science literature. Thanks to the Plan S initiative, this will soon no longer remain a barrier to good research,” said Charles Mgone, Vice Chancellor of Hubert Kairuki Memorial University in United Republic of Tanzania. “I strongly support the position of WHO in joining cOAlition S and feel this is another major step forward in achieving universal access to health information.”
“We are delighted the World Health Organization is joining cOAlition S, marking an important day for health research,” said Jeremy Farrar, Director of Wellcome. “In joining the partnership, the WHO’s global reach will play a vital in role in supporting researchers and institutions in member states in making their research fully Open Access so that it is freely and immediately available to all. Wellcome is committed to working towards a fully Open Access world when no research is behind a paywall.“