STM response to UKRI Open Access Policy

"STM welcomes the positives contained in the publication of the UKRI Open Access policy. Our members appreciate that UKRI recognises that adequate and sustainable funding for full OA (Gold) is fundamental to ensuring the long-term sustainability and integrity of high-quality research publication. The acknowledgement that longer timescales are required for the implementation on monographs is also welcomed, as is the recognition of the need for embargoes for long-form publications. Despite these positives however, we continue to have significant concerns that the policy will ultimately stand to harm the integrity of the scholarly record and constrain researchers’ freedom to choose the most appropriate outlet for the publication of their work. We are deeply concerned that the UKRI policy gives equivalent status to the subscription-tied Accepted Manuscript (Green) and the full OA publication of the Version of Record (Gold). By doing so, and by requiring zero embargoes in the Accepted Manuscript (Green) route, UKRI is encouraging the widespread utilisation of freely available substitutes of final published articles (Versions of Record). Given the unfinished and unconnected nature of the AM, this has the potential to both confuse its users and to undermine the integrity of the scholarly record and therefore of UK research. It also jeopardises the continued progress of the Open Access publishing transition by enabling an entirely unsustainable route...."