Implementing the UK Open Access policy: The embargoes for Green | DarkRepository

"The positive achievement of the UK in positioning Open Access front and center of the debate around the future of academic publishing cannot be denied. However, defining a clear path toward policy implementation has been less successful. Here is the first of five reasons why: Embargoes for Green. Anyone who has been tracking the rapid transition from the recommendations of the Finch Group to the emergence of RCUK's policy must admit that the horse-trading around OA embargoes caused considerable confusion. The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee report into the policy published on 22 February 2013 produced this graphic to highlight how it should work ... The thing is it was the first time most people had seen it. Was this the policy tweak we were told would emerge at the end of February? Perhaps. While David Willets' position on Green OA verges on the politically hostile, RCUK and HEFCE have tried to hold a more pragmatic line albeit one which the former appeared at pains to avoid stating plainly. Put simply: although the policy has a preference for Gold, funding is limited and Green will meet the shortfall ... In August 2012, The Publisher's Association released a position statement on RCUK policy which contains our now familiar decision tree. We can assume that in the following six months there was considerable lobbying by the PA to get BIS and RCUK to clarify their position but if you look closely this is a bit more than a simple policy tweak on the time-scales of embargoes. Where a publisher doesn't offer a paid APC option for a particular journal, the author will be compliant with RCUK's OA policy if the author's final draft, post peer-review, is deposited in a repository and released from embargo between 6 to 12 months depending on discipline. Where the publisher DOES offer a paid APC option but there is no money to cover the APC, the embargo gets expanded to 12-24 months.Therefore publishers can impose an embargo of 12-24 months on the 55% of published research in year one of the RCUK policy. That's quite a roll-back on the original position and to whose benefit?"