More Open Access debate needed, says JISC

"JISC’s executive secretary called for more strategic debate on Open Access among funders, researchers and institutional managers. Dr Malcolm Read said that more needs to be done to agree policy on open access to publicly funded research and provide a suitable infrastructure to support such publishing models and open up research data. Speaking at the expert conference on Open Access and Open Data in Cologne, Germany, he argued that there are a number of areas where career researchers’ need for collaboration and peer encouragement could complement with institutional motivations for an open access policy. After his talk, Malcolm said: “We want to encourage institutions to exploit the measurable benefits of open data. But to do that we need to look again at the benefits institutions pass on to the researcher, and make sure that research staff are involved in the strategic decision making - with associated career rewards for those who choose to make their work more openly available. JISC is working with funders and institutions to ensure that the academic and economic impacts of open data and publishing can be fully felt.” ..."