Why is HIVDB publicly available?
Data is the most important commodity in science and its management is of critical importance to the discovery of new knowledge. An HIV drug resistance database that provides unfettered access to the types of data described in the preceding paragraphs must be publicly available to the broadest number of users to promote discovery in the most efficient manner. Proprietary databases that deny access to the majority of researchers are not only inefficient but also counterproductive because the company or small group of researchers with a stake in such a database will often act to thwart the nonproprietary dissemination of data in order to maintain the perceived commercial or research value of their monopoly. Conclusions drawn from a proprietary database may also be unduly influenced by the interests of those who submit and retrieve the data.
