Abstract

The Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings reported to the UK's Minister of Universities and Science in mid-2012. This was followed by a new policy for open access (OA) publishing by Research Councils UK (RCUK) as well as a commitment from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to require that research submitted to future research evaluation exercises – after the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) – be open access. These initiatives build on a broad consensus, that includes for-profit publishers, that open access is the way of the future. Here, I give a perspective on these issues, both as the head of an institution with particular interests in the future of scholarly publication and also as a member of the Working Group on Expanding Access. The continuing development of informed debate will be critical for the future of the scholarly publishing system.

Highlights

  • The year 2012 has been an auspicious one for open access (OA) publishing

  • There is a broad consensus, that includes for-profit publishers, that open access is the way of the future

  • There is little independent and systematic evidence that academic journal subscriptions are cancelled if parts of the journal content are made open access, and some suggest that the opposite could be the case

Read more

Summary

Introduction

The year 2012 has been an auspicious one for open access (OA) publishing. The Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings reported to the Minister of Universities and Science (the ‘Finch Report’).[1] This was quickly followed by the new policy of Research Councils UK (RCUK), adopting the Finch Group recommendations for the publication of publicly funded research work.[2] the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) announced the intention to require that research submitted to future research evaluation exercises – after the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) – be open access.[3]. There is a broad consensus, that includes for-profit publishers, that open access is the way of the future. I map out my perspective on this issue, both as the head of an institution with particular interests in the future of scholarly publication and as a member of the Finch Group, with a shared responsibility for our recommendations

Green and its limits
Gold and its ambiguities publishing an unsatisfactory
Findings
The Finch Report and its critics

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.