Update. "#NIH blocks researchers in China, Russia and other countries from multiple databases."
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/research/nih-bans-researchers-china-russia-and-other-countries-multiple-databases

"The #Trump administration has blocked access to multiple data repositories maintained by the NIH…The ban is effective April 4 and applies to institutions in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela…The numerous controlled-access data repositories (CADRs) that are affected by the rule hold data on a vast swath of subjects including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, mental health disorders, substance abuse and adolescent brain development."

#Censorship #DefendResearch #Medicine #Nationalism #OpenData #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Update. "Trump proposes unprecedented budget cuts to US science."
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01397-1

"The budget document released by the White House on Friday for the upcoming fiscal year…would cut all non-defence spending by 23% but targets the US National Science Foundation [#NSF] for a 56% funding reduction, and would slash the budget of the US National Institutes of Health [#NIH] by roughly 40%. The Environmental Protection Agency [#EPA], which on Friday also announced plans to dismantle its primary research division, would be hit by a 55% cut as the administration seeks to eliminate what it calls “radical” and “woke” #climate programmes."

#DefendResearch #Funding #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Update. "#NIH halts funding for new projects with foreign collaborators, citing national security concerns."
https://www.statnews.com/2025/05/01/nih-halts-research-funding-for-projects-involving-foreign-collaborators/

"The National Institutes of Health announced Thursday it will no longer allow subawards to foreign institutions, as part of a national security-minded overhaul to how the agency manages its $47 billion research funding portfolio. The change is likely to cause immediate disruptions to research projects around the world."

#Collaboration #DefendResearch #Funding #Medicine #Nationalism #NationalSecurity #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Update. "#Trump says he’s yanking #Harvard’s tax-exempt status."
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/02/trump-harvard-tax-exempt-status-00323192

PS: We could say that Trump has moved from threat to action. Or we could say that he's started another two-step dance to energize the MAGA base, first with a futile gesture ("look at my strong action!") and second with the inevitable loss in court ("look at those radical judges!").

#Academia #DefendResearch #Nonprofits #Universities #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics
@academicchatter

Update. PEN America (@pen_ev) is pulling together separate federal agency lists of banned words to make one, growing master list. It currently has more than 350 entries.
https://pen.org/banned-words-list/

#Censorship #DefendResearch #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

@helenczerski Yes, it's infuriating, but we must keep fighting! Use our new toolkit for contacting elected officials to demand they #DefendResearch. Make calls with our script & background information (with testimonials from #researchers), then share with your networks and ask them to do the same! https://www.defendresearch.org/take-action/toolkits-for-action

Update. "Education Department restarts online library #ERIC."
https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-restart-eric-ed-library/

"The US Department of Education announced Monday that it would continue to operate its online library, known as ERIC, after allowing it to lapse last week. The Department of Government Efficiency (#DOGE) had sought significant cuts to the document repository that is used by 14 million people a year, and allowed funding to run out on April 23…A new, albeit much smaller contract was signed on April 24…[Matthew Soldner, the acting director of the Institute of Education Sciences] said that 'no content has been removed or deleted from ERIC. The preservation policy is unchanged [and] we will not remove an article in ERIC unless it is retracted by the publisher.'"

#DefendResearch #Education #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Update. "#NIH under siege."
https://www.science.org/content/article/nih-insiders-trump-dismantling-and-destroying-everything

"Nearly 3 months into President Donald Trump’s administration, NIH in-house scientists and other workers [are] reeling from mass layoffs of colleagues; the removal of leaders; and limits on travel, communication, and purchasing that have shut the agency off from the outside world, hamstrung experiments, and crushed the community’s spirits…The atmosphere is one of 'chaos and fear and frustration and anger,' said a senior scientist with NIH’s intramural research program…This scientist added: 'It’s this feeling of utter powerlessness and repeated insults.'"

#DefendResearch #Funding #Medicine #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Update. "Amid DOGE-induced turmoil, National Science Foundation in crisis."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025/05/01/science-funding-nsf-cuts/

"The 75-year-old government agency [#NSF] has one function: keep the U.S. science enterprise at the leading edge. In the past two weeks, however, the $9 billion agency, which exists entirely to fund science researchers, projects and facilities…hit reverse on its main mission."

#DefendResearch #Funding #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Update. "Exclusive: #NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones."
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01396-2

"Staff members at the US National Science Foundation (NSF) were told on 30 April to “stop awarding all funding actions until further notice,” according to an email seen by Nature. The policy prevents the NSF, one of the world’s biggest supporters of basic research, from awarding new research grants and from supplying allotted funds for existing grants, such as those that receive yearly increments of money. The email does not provide a reason for the freeze and says that it will last 'until further notice'."

#DefendResearch #Funding #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Great to see more #researchers publicly calling out academic #censorship! https://www.independent.com/2025/04/30/this-is-a-full-scale-assault-on-science/ Join this #resistance by signing the Declaration to #DefendResearch Against U.S. Gov Censorship! Submit a testimonial of censorship's impact on your work on the public! Contact your elected officials! https://defendresearch.org

Thank you
Open Book Publishers for your powerful statement and your commitment to fighting #censorship, including by being a signatory to the Declaration to #DefendResearch Against U.S. Government Censorship! https://blogs.openbookpublishers.com/defending-academic-freedom-in-an-age-of-censorship-why-open-access-matters-more-than-ever/

#RFKJr has ordered the #NIH to stop studying #ebola and half a dozen other fatal infectious diseases. www.wired.com/story/hhs-ni... #DefendResearch #Medicine #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

RFK Jr.’s HHS Orders Lab Study...

Update. #RFKJr has ordered the #NIH to stop studying #ebola and half a dozen other fatal infectious diseases.
https://www.wired.com/story/hhs-niaid-irf-ebola-disease-research-stop/

#DefendResearch #Medicine #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Courage and leadership, like that shown by Emerald Publishing, are sorely needed now. #Publishers, please look at Emerald's inspiring efforts to #DefendResearch and do the same! #ScholComm #Academia #HigherEd https://emeraldgrouppublishing.com/defendresearch

We've published two new blog posts reflecting on #OpenAccess, academic freedom & censorship -- one from our team, and another from one of our authors, Ash Lierman.

Our team: https://blogs.openbookpublishers.com/defending-academic-freedom-in-an-age-of-censorship-why-open-access-matters-more-than-ever/

Ash: https://blogs.openbookpublishers.com/defending-academic-freedom-in-an-age-of-censorship-reflections-from-author-ash-lierman/

#DefendResearch

Thank you Emerald Publishing for your courage and your leadership in the collaborative fight to #DefendResearch! I hope many other publishers take inspiration from you, including by issuing their own version of your powerful Publisher's note! https://emeraldgrouppublishing.com/defendresearch#publishers-note

The #DefendResearch team has a toolkit for contacting elected officials to demand a stop to #censorship. Use our script & background information (with testimonials from #researchers) to make calls, then share with your networks and ask them to do the same! https://www.defendresearch.org/take-action/toolkits-for-action

Update. "Accelerating Access to Research Results: New Implementation Date for the 2024 #NIH Public Access Policy"
https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/who-we-are/nih-director/statements/accelerating-access-research-results-new-implementation-date-2024-nih-public-access-policy

"I am excited to announce that one of my first actions as NIH Director is pushing the accelerator on policies to make NIH research findings freely and quickly available to the public. The 2024 Public Access Policy, originally slated to go into effect on December 31, 2025, will now be effective as of July 1, 2025."

PS: This announcement is from the Trump-appointed NIH director, #JayBhattacharya. It's another sign that Trump has not revoked or weakened the #OSTP #NelsonMemo, despite other attacks on research, including #takedowns of #OpenAccess texts and data. At the NIH, the largest funding agency, implementation of the Nelson memo is even speeding up.

#DefendResearch #Medicine #USPol #USPolitics

Excellent Scholarly Kitchen post today by Alice Meadows and Suze Kundu about how our different sectors could be responding to the threats of this moment! #DefendResearch #ScholComm #AcademicChatter #Academics #journalism #journalists https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/04/30/trump-v-research-how-we-could-turn-the-threats-into-opportunities/