opening the book on open access: what researchers think

[From the Preface]   ... For the past couple of years, the open access debate has been dominated by university administrators, librarians, government, funding organisations and publishers. Voices of researchers are seldom heard in this debate. That is why the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences wants to shift the focus a bit by initiating this booklet. It contains an illustrative number of interviews with outstanding researchers in a variety of disciplines. As it turns out, their opinions vary quite a bit, making the interviews a very interesting read indeed. Weighing up all the pros and cons, and regardless of the eventual outcome of this debate, I would like to point out two things. First, whatever the final policy terms will be, let’s make absolutely clear that the open access principle is ultimately beneficial to research and society. And second, let’s keep in mind that knowledge is not the exclusive privilege of researchers or academics, and that everyone in society has a right to access results paid for by taxes. Our future depends on it.