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The article reports on the efforts of U.S. government to make scientific research available for all. It reports that the accessibility offered by the Internet has transformed science publishing over the past decade. The government of the U.S. is making efforts to make all federally funded research available for free. The new system will make huge numbers of scientific articles publicly available for all. It reports that such archives will basically contain the final versions of the manuscripts written by the authors. There was an increase in public access in late 2007 when the U.S. Congress passed a bill and made it compulsory for scientists funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) to deposit their papers within 12 months of publication.

The article focuses on the criterion by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) on the required broader impacts of scientific researches and proposals to the society. NSF director Arden Bement in Arlington, Virginia says that the criterion was designed to make sure that the researches have connections with the society. However, the definition by the NSF of broader impacts is broad and vague in which the proposal guide includes appropriate involvement of students in the research, shared research infrastructure, and establishment of industrial and governmental collaborations. Meanwhile, the criterion makes scientists to think more on the connection of their work to the society. Moreover, the confusion of scientists on the criterion shows the issues on the relation of science and society.