ASF Joins New Program to Make All Its Funded Research Available Open Access
New York, June 7, 2023 — The Autism Science Foundation (ASF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and funding innovative autism research, today announced it would join the Health Resource Alliance Open Science program, which will enable ASF-funded researchers to publish in open access journals at no cost to the researcher. This program will allow more research to be disseminated to the broader autism community sooner. The National Library of Medicine PubMed system allows scientists to publish NIH and CDC-funded publications in open access journals at no cost; this new program expands that opportunity to private funders, like ASF.
Lack of direct access to research findings has been a source of frustration for families and autistic individuals who want the details of scientific studies.
“Families who help us raise money and fund science should have access to the results” said Dr. Alycia Halladay, Chief Science Officer at the Autism Science Foundation. “Most people do not have the means to access scientific articles behind publisher paywalls. This new program is a huge win for anyone who has ever wanted to read a scientific article but has then been asked to enter a credit card to do so”.
The Health Research Alliance is a collaborative member organization of nonprofit research funders, committed to maximizing the impact of biomedical research to improve human health. Over 100 nonprofit funders, including the Autism Science Foundation, participate in the Health Research Alliance. The HRA Open program enables participating nonprofit funders to have their grantees upload and share publications into PubMed Central (PMC) via the NIH Manuscript Submission system (NIHMS) – just as if they were funded by the NIH.
This program will be a part of all ASF-funded grants programs beginning immediately.
About the Autism Science Foundation
The Autism Science Foundation (ASF) is a 501(c) (3) public charity. Its mission is to support autism research by providing funding to scientists and organizations conducting autism research. ASF also provides information about autism to the general public and serves to increase awareness of autism spectrum disorders and the needs of individuals and families affected by autism. To learn more about the Autism Science Foundation or to make a donation, visit www.autismsciencefoundation.org.