Like most published material in the United States, peer reviewed articles appearing in scholarly journals are copyrighted. The purpose of copyright is to maintain the integrity of intellectual property and to ensure that those responsible for its publication may recoup those expenses and continue to provide such information. The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution recognizes that these rights are in the public interest, and provides that private property may not be taken for public use without due process.

Underlying the discussion about whether government should mandate the release of articles is a simple question of fairness. Requiring scholarly journals essentially to give away their product to the federal government without compensation would be tantamount to an unconstitutional taking of intellectual property by the federal government. Such compulsory forfeiture of intellectual property by publishers raises serious 'due process' and other legal questions.

The Partnership for Research Integrity in Science and Medicine (PRISM) fully supports the release of taxpayer-funded research data to the government. But it is critically important that journals be allowed to maintain rights to the journal articles they pay to publish so they may continue to be able to contribute to the scientific process. Click here to learn more about the role of private property in scholarly publishing.