The Finch Report and RCUK Open Access policy: How can libraries respond? | Impact of Social Sciences

"Libraries have always been advocates of Open Access (OA), providing repository services to collect, share and preserve open access versions of research papers. The Finch Report and the new RCUK OA policy mark a transformation to the way in which research is published and made available in the UK. Making government funded research free at the point of access will inevitably affect the way in which institutional repositories such as LSE Research Online (disclosure – I manage this service) develop in the future. However, it is now more than ever that academic libraries must continue to advance services which support open access to research during what was recently dubbed the ‘biggest change for four centuries in the way that the public gets to read academic research’.  Libraries must provide services, whether that be repository infrastructures or OA support, to ensure research and underlying materials are widely disseminated and meet funder requirements..."