Charity alliance launches fund to make publicly-funded research open access | Breast Cancer Now

"An alliance of leading UK medical research charities is launching a new fund to help make publicly-funded research freely available as soon as it is published, it has been announced today (Wednesday). Arthritis Research UK, Breast Cancer Campaign, the British Heart Foundation (BHF), Cancer Research UK, Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, and the Wellcome Trust have joined together to create the Charity Open Access Fund (COAF). Many journals require a subscription for users to be able to see their research articles, which can lead to publicly-funded research being hidden behind a pay-wall. But many publishers will make the research immediately free to access and re-use if a fee – called the ‘article processing charge’ – is paid. This ‘open access’ model allows knowledge to be shared faster and promotes innovation, accelerating progress that can lead to patients accessing better treatments sooner. The COAF is a two-year pilot and will collect around £12million into a single pot of money, available to researchers funded by any of the charities*. Researchers can apply through their universities to access the fund from 1st October this year, which will pay the article processing charge to make their work freely available as soon as it is published ..."