Alliance for Taxpayer Access is an organization that advocates that taxpayer-funded research should be available to access for free on the internet. The Alliance for Taxpayer Access is administered by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), both projects of the left-of-center New Venture Fund that is managed by Arabella Advisors. The Alliance for Taxpayer Access applauded the Biden administration’s rule change on open access to federally funded research while critics question how certain costs would be covered under the new plan. ¹

History

The Alliance for Taxpayer Access was formed in 2004 to provide peer-reviewed articles produced by taxpayer-funded research online for free. ² The Alliance for Taxpayer Access is administered by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition that advocates for systemic change in knowledge systems that are allegedly corrupted by “racism, colonialism, and other legacies of injustice.” ³

Positions

The Alliance for Taxpayer Access’ four main principles state that taxpayers are entitled to open access on the internet to peer-reviewed research articles and underlying research data funded by the U.S. government; widespread access to articles and data are a component of the nation’s investment in research and education; research articles and data should stimulate further discovery, innovation, and advance into economic benefits; and more access and sharing of research will provide a quicker return on taxpayers’ investment. ⁴

The Alliance for Taxpayer Access advocates that any peer-reviewed research that is federally funded be made available for free immediately. ⁵ The Obama administration considered such open access to research but stopped short, and in 2013, ordered that federal departments and agencies with more than $100 million in annual research and development expenditures had the option of embargoing federally funded research up to a year. ⁶ The Trump administration considered requiring immediate public access but decided against it. ⁷ In August 2022, the Biden administration ordered that by the end of 2025, federal agencies must make taxpayer-funded work immediately available as soon as a peer-reviewed manuscript is published. ⁸

Members

Members of the Alliance for Taxpayer Access that support open access to taxpayer funded research include the American Library Association, the Association of College and Research Libraries, the Association of Research Libraries, the Chordoma Foundation, the Christopher Reeve Foundation, the  Colorado State University, the Denison University Library, the Genetic Alliance, the Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation, IP Justice, the Memorial Library at Berry College, New England Biolabs, the Polio Survivors Association, the Purdue University Libraries, the Right to Research Coalition, the Trinity University Library, Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, and the University of Kansas. ⁹

Finances

The Alliance for Taxpayer Access and Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition are funded through the left-of-center center New Venture Fund. ¹⁰ The New Venture Fund is a pass-through funder and project sponsor managed by the left-leaning Arabella Advisors. ¹¹

Leadership

Since 2005, Heather Joseph has been the executive director of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, as well as overseeing the Alliance for Taxpayer Access. ¹² From 2000 to 2005, Joseph was the founder, president, and chief operating officer of BioOne, an independent academic publisher. Prior, Joseph was the director of publishing at the American Society for Cell Biology for two years and spent two years as publications director at the Society for Neuroscience. ¹³ Joseph worked as an acquisitions editor at Elsevier for scientific and technical journals and spent six years as publications manager at the American Astronomical Society. ¹⁴ Joseph is an advocate for statehood for the District of Columbia. ¹⁵

1. “About.” Alliance for Taxpayer Access. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.taxpayeraccess.org/about/
2. Alliance for Taxpayer Access. “Public Access to Federally Funded Scholarly Publications.” Comments to the Office of Science and Technology. January 12, 2012. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/scholarly-pubs-%28%23304%29%20ata.pdf.
3. “About.” Alliance for Taxpayer Access. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.taxpayeraccess.org/about/
4. “About.” Alliance for Taxpayer Research. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.taxpayeraccess.org/about/.
5. “Policy & Advocacy.” Alliance for Taxpayer Research. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.taxpayeraccess.org/policies/.
6. D’Agostino, Susan and Dough Lederman. “No Paywall for Taxpayer-Funded Research, U.S. Declares.” Inside Higher Ed. August 25, 2022. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/08/26/us-mandates-immediate-public-access-taxpayer-funded-research.
7.  “Will Trump White House Tear Down Journal Paywalls? Many Anxiously Await Decision.” Science. May 21, 2020. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.science.org/content/article/will-trump-white-house-tear-down-journal-paywalls-many-anxiously-await-decision; D’Agostino, Susan and Dough Lederman. “No Paywall for Taxpayer-Funded Research, U.S. Declares.” Inside Higher Ed. August 25, 2022. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/08/26/us-mandates-immediate-public-access-taxpayer-funded-research.
8. Brainard, Jeffrey and Jocelyn Kaiser. “White House Requires Immediate Public Access to All U.S.-Funded Research Papers by 2025. Science. August 26, 2022. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.science.org/content/article/white-house-requires-immediate-public-access-all-u-s–funded-research-papers-2025.
9. “Our Membership.” Alliance for Taxpayer Access. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.taxpayeraccess.org/members/.
10. “New Venture Fund Privacy Policy.” Alliance for Taxpayer Access. May 22, 2018. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.taxpayeraccess.org/privacy/. “New Venture Fund Privacy Policy.” Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://sparcopen.org/privacy-policy/.
11.  “New Venture Fund Privacy Policy.” Alliance for Taxpayer Access. May 22, 2018. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.taxpayeraccess.org/privacy/; “New Venture Fund: Using Philanthropy to Shape a More Just, Equitable and Sustainable Future.” Arabella Advisors. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.arabellaadvisors.com/blog/exploring-the-new-venture-funds-past-present-and-future/.
12. ^[1] “Heather Joseph Named As 2021 Miles Conrad Awardee.” National Information and Standards Organization. December 2020. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.niso.org/press-releases/2020/12/heather-joseph-named-2021-miles-conrad-awardee; “Heather Joseph.” LinkedIn. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-joseph-ba160111/; “Heather Joseph.” National Information and Standards Organization. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.niso.org/people/heather-joseph.
13. “Heather Joseph.” LinkedIn. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-joseph-ba160111/.
14. “Heather Joseph.” LinkedIn. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-joseph-ba160111/
15. “@hjoseph.” Twitter. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://x.com/hjoseph?lang=en.