It is one of the great debates raging in the world of academia at the moment. Is Open Access to scholarly research a good idea? The US is the current key battleground in this debate with the introduction of the bipartisan Federal Research Public Access Act in the Senate. The legislation requires that free, online access to each taxpayer-funded manuscript be available as soon as possible, and no later than 6 months after its publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Electronic copies of the research papers will be stored in databases and made publicly accessible online. 

Read about the origin of the idea, one blogger's opinion, the bill text, a letter of opposition from publishers, commentary from InsideHigherEd, or a supportive overview of open access publishing.