HOUSE OF LORDS Science and Technology Committee: The implementation of open access - Report
abernard102@gmail.com 2013-02-22
Summary:
Use the link to access the full text report. An excerpt from the Summary reads as follows: "The growth of open access publishing—specifically, making peer-reviewed journal articles available online at no cost to readers—is revolutionising communication of the results of research. The Government commissioned an independent working group to consider how to expand access to publicly-funded research (the Finch Group) and Research Councils UK (RCUK) revised its policy on open access following the report of this group. The revised policy has caused considerable
concern in both the publishing and academic communities. Publishers are worried about specific requirements of the policy. Learned societies fear they will lose a valuable income stream which they use to support their respective academic communities. Academics are concerned about the policy taking a 'one size fits all' approach, and possible unintended consequences such as lessening the quality of peer review, restricting ability to collaborate and limiting freedom to publish in the best journals. Both communities have expressed frustration that they were not
adequately consulted about the policy. In the light of these concerns, we conducted a short inquiry to consider the plans for implementation of RCUK’s open access policy, with a view to offering
recommendations to inform RCUK’s revision of its policy guidance. We have
concluded that: [1] RCUK must clarify its policy guidance to reflect its incremental approach to
compliance in the initial five-year implementation phase of its open access
policy; [2] RCUK must monitor the effects of its open access policy and its Autumn 2014
review of the policy should consider ..."