Willetts: Publishers add 'genuine value' | The Bookseller

abernard102@gmail.com 2013-05-19

Summary:

"Universities minister David Willetts this week praised the 'genuine added value' of the academic publishing industry during a session of intense questioning from the House of Commons business, innovation and skills (BIS) committee as it probed the implications of the government’s Open Access policy. However, he said non-disclosure agreements preventing academic institutions finding out what others are paying for the same publishing product left 'a nasty taste in the mouth'. Members of the Commons’ BIS committee grilled Willetts and policy advisor Ron Egginton on Tuesday (14th May) about the OA policy and its impact on academics, universities and libraries, with many suggesting publishers benefited the most—in particular via the gold route, whereby universities and academics pay an article processing charge to the publisher for a paper to be made freely available immediately. Willetts said: 'Unlike some of the hotheads who regard academic publishing as a kind of exploitative ramp of rent-seekers, I do think there is some genuine added value in the whole process . . . research publishing is a British success and adds value. Versions of gold and green add value and [that] needs to be paid [for].' Willetts rejected the suggestion from the committee that there was a danger article processing charges would increase over time, arguing instead that there would be cost savings. He said: 'There is massive technological change hitting this industry which is going to change the cost structure; at the end of the day there will be savings, but we are not taking that for granted.' One committee member asked Willetts to further investigate the effect of OA on B2B publishing, after he said he had received information that suggested the sector would be negatively impacted by the policy. Willets was also tackled on the morality of non-disclosure agreements given by publishers to academic librarians, which prevent them from finding out what other institutions are paying for the same product, in order to bargain for a better deal. Willetts stated: 'We are not aware of any legal charge on [publishers] to disclose this information. [But] we understand they can leave a nasty taste in the mouth.' Willetts said last September that all publicly-funded research should be free to access for all by 2014. The move would, he said, 'keep the UK at the forefront of global research to drive innovation and growth'."

Link:

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/willetts-publishers-add-genuine-value.html

From feeds:

Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) » abernard102@gmail.com

Tags:

oa.new oa.gold oa.business_models oa.publishers oa.policies oa.comment oa.government oa.universities oa.libraries oa.uk oa.costs oa.prices oa.fees oa.hei oa.journals

Date tagged:

05/19/2013, 07:32

Date published:

05/19/2013, 03:32