Undue and unnecessary government intervention in scholarly publishing creates a serious risk that bias will be introduced into the scientific record, with profound consequences for the integrity of science.

Scientific discovery is driven by inquiry and fact, not preconceived notions or bias. It is neither conservative nor liberal, but ideologically agnostic. Yet there are those who would seek to use science and scholarship to advance a particular point of view rather than the expansion of knowledge. Experience shows that governmental and political interference has the potential to advance a point of view that distorts the scientific record.

Bias can take a number of different forms. It can result from the selective inclusion, exclusion, or manipulation of certain research data. It can also be reflected in the awarding of research grants that favor one particular theory or line of thinking.

Bias can also result from outside interference in determining which information is made widely available and which is not. If the government has the power to mandate the release of articles to government repositories, it creates a two-tiered system that is highly vulnerable to bias. How long before that mandate is extended to determine, based on politics or ideology, which scientific research gets the endorsement of inclusion in a government repository, and which is selectively omitted from the government's record?

Whatever form it assumes, the scientific, technical and medical community agrees that bias is a fatal detriment to scholarship. For this reason, maintaining the independence of scholarly publishing is a paramount consideration in ensuring that the scientific record is free from ideological influences and agendas.

A healthy separation between science and government provides the best insurance of scholarly independence. That is the traditional and invaluable role of private sector publishers -- to ensure impartial review and validation of research findings, advocating for the quality of the science -- not politics or ideology. By usurping and undermining this role, government intervention has the potential to distort the record of science.