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UPDATE: THANK YOU SPRINGER, TAYLOR & FRANCIS, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, AND WILEY FOR TAKING DECISIVE ACTION DURING HUMANITY'S UNPRECEDENTED GLOBAL HEALTH EMERGENCY.

Right now, thousands of scientific studies about the Coronavirus are locked behind subscription paywalls, blocking scientists from getting access to research needed to discover antiviral treatments and a vaccine to stop the virus. Although publishers have made some research available via Open Access, thousands of articles remain locked behind paywalls.

Publishers must immediately unlock every scientific article containing the term “Coronavirus.” It is a moral imperative.

Publishing companies like Elsevier make billions in profit from subscription fees paid by scientists. Scientists working in the developing world often cannot afford these costly subscriptions, which are needed to get past paywalls to access studies. The Liberian Minister of Health Dr. Bernice Dahn warned us that crucial Ebola research was inaccessible to scientists during the height of the 2014 Ebola epidemic. A subscription fee stood between Ebola scientists and life-saving research.

A single research paper would cost a physician in Liberia $45 - half a week’s salary. A paper that might save countless lives.

Humanity cannot afford to make the same mistake twice. We cannot let greed get in the way of science and cost human lives. Hundreds of people have died, tens of thousands are infected. Publishers must open their hearts and share everything known about Coronaviruses during this crisis with every researcher, rich or poor. This time, we cannot let paywalls stand between scientists and the scientific knowledge they need to fight the virus.

Unlock Coronavirus Science

We demand scientific publishers Elsevier, John Wiley & Sons, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, SAGE Publications, Oxford University Press, and Wolters Kluwer support our scientists and physicians during this humanitarian crisis. Now is not the time for profit, now is the time for action.

Thank you for supporting our brave scientists during this globally urgent humanitarian crisis.