Finch Report: AIP Sees Value in Encouraging Stakeholder Collaboration in Publishing

“The American Institute of Physics (AIP) welcomes a new report, drafted by a distinguished group of U.K. scholarly publishing stakeholders, which seeks to achieve wider and more open public access to peer-reviewed publications. The report committee, led by Dame Janet Finch, recognizes the costs involved with scholarly publishing, the need for data linkages, the value of peer review, the importance of archiving, and the significance of enabling innovation within the industry. The report also identifies the complex nature of scholarly publishing, and accurately captures the interests of the stakeholders, which include universities, funders, publishers, and researchers. AIP acknowledges that the Finch report’s key recommendation is to manage and accelerate a shift toward public access through government policies that encourage publication in open-access or hybrid journals. AIP, however, believes the most appropriate role for the government is to encourage partnerships among federal agencies, publishers, and research institutions. Examples of these partnerships have arisen as a direct result of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-358). Within the United States, the America COMPETES Act requires federal agencies that fund scientific research to develop policies to improve access to and interoperability among databases, and to improve archiving of data and publications derived from public funding. Indeed, recent collaborative efforts — initiated by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and involving scientific societies and publishers, the Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation — have made significant progress toward these goals. ‘In the United States, we have seen creative and thoughtful discussions that have been spurred by the America COMPETES framework, organic market forces, and collaborative efforts already underway among stakeholders,’ said Dylla. “These have resulted in a pragmatic and productive route to success in broadening public access to all the products of scholarly research.’ The Finch report states that a mixed economy of subscriptions, licensing, open access, repositories, and pay-per-view will exist for the foreseeable future. AIP believes that the mission of providing access will be best served by embracing this diversity and encouraging the stakeholders to work collaboratively toward the broadest possible dissemination. It is AIP’s belief that the governments should support and encourage access to scholarly publications via mutually beneficial partnerships with publishers, which would contribute to the economy and maximize the productivity of the scientific enterprise.”