For open-access clarity, adopt rule on exception | Times Higher Education

"Research Councils UK should adopt the same exception to its open access policy as the UK funding bodies to relieve confusion. That is one of the recommendations of RCUK’s first independent review of its open access policy, published on 26 March. The policy came into force in April 2013 but controversy over some of its provisions led RCUK to commit to a series of reviews, starting in 2014. The review panel, chaired by former University of Leicester vice-chancellor Sir Bob Burgess, concludes that it is too early to assess the effects of many aspects of the policy, such as embargo periods and licensing ... The panel, which includes learned societies, publishers and librarians, says funders should highlight where their policies are equivalent and differ because even when they believed their policies were similar, this was not always the perception ..."