EveryLibrary Institute Signs Declaration to Protect Academic Research from U.S. Government Censorship

Here’s the Full Text of the EveryLibrary Institute Statement

The EveryLibrary Institute, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to research, training, and programmatic support for libraries, has joined the #DefendResearch coalition in signing the Declaration to Defend Research Against U.S. Government Censorship, a shared call for institutions, publishers, and policymakers to protect academic freedom and resist government interference in scholarly work.

The Declaration serves as both a warning and a call to action for the scholarly communication ecosystem, urging vigilance against efforts to censor, suppress, or distort academic research. It affirms that scholars must be free to pursue knowledge, access and analyze data, and publish findings without political pressure or ideological restrictions.

The EveryLibrary Institute views academic freedom as a public good. Research underpins evidence-based policymaking, innovation, and informed civic life. When governments attempt to limit the language scholars can use, restrict funding based on ideology, remove publicly available datasets, or target individual researchers, they undermine the quality of the scientific record and narrow what society is allowed to know.

For libraries, whose role includes preserving and providing access to the scholarly record, government censorship is a direct challenge to their mission. Restrictions on research and data reverberate through classrooms, campuses, and communities: students lose access to key ideas, faculty face pressure over what they can teach, and the broader public is left with a distorted or incomplete picture of the world.

As part of this commitment, the EveryLibrary Institute has integrated the Declaration’s principles into its own work. The Institute operates as a companion organization to EveryLibrary, the first national political action committee for libraries, and focuses on research, publishing, and advocacy training that strengthen library policy and funding. It also publishes The Political Librarian, an academic journal at the intersection of libraries and public policy, and is committed to providing a secure venue for scholars to publish and preserve their work free from political interference. 

“We stand with our colleagues across higher education in rejecting the politicization of research and reaffirming the principle that knowledge must remain free and accessible,” said John Chrastka, Executive Director of the EveryLibrary Institute. “We owe it to future generations of researchers, scholars, and students to ensure that their work is never constrained by fear of suppression or distortion.”

The Declaration calls on libraries, universities, publishers, funders, policymakers, and individuals to recognize censorship as a systemic risk and to take concrete steps to address it through policy, institutional practice, and public advocacy. The EveryLibrary Institute is encouraging colleagues in higher education, scholarly communication, and the library profession to add their names and stand with the #DefendResearch community.

Sign the Declaration and join the effort to #DefendResearch against U.S. government censorship: www.defendresearch.org

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