UK government position paper on open access

This is "the summary of a roundtable discussion on March 17, 2011, convened by David Willetts, the UK Minister of State for Universities and Science. In attendance were the heads of most of the Research Councils, JISC, RIN, the head of HEFCE, several publishers, learned societies, research charities, academics and consultants....The Coalition [coalition government of the UK] has a commitment to Open Access (taken here to mean increased transparency to facilitate improved access to research publications and data). The Roundtable appeared to recognise that OA has the potential to bring significant benefits to the academic community and through its effective translation, the wider economy and society. What is also clear is that whilst a trend towards OA is developing, how we move from “here to there” remains a major challenge. The transition needs to be achieved without losing the advantages of the current arrangements (such as academic Peer Review in co-operation with publishers). New funding models are emerging but they also present the challenge of determining which is preferable. ‘Green’ and ‘gold’ are clearly different and whilst ‘gold’ may be more appealing, it is not clear, from an OA perspective, that it provides the best solution or is sustainable. We need to consider where costs should fall....We will want to consider how we can best use the means to bring about change (including the REF, negotiations on improving the relevant EU directive and policy developments and proposals for the forthcoming White Paper on Higher Education) to push the issue forward in a collaborative way...."