BIS media information for journalists and the press - Press Releases - Government to open up publicly funded research - BIS

“The Government will widely accept the recommendations in a report on open access by Dame Janet Finch, a move which is likely to see a major increase in the number of taxpayer funded research papers freely available to the public. Universities and Science Minister David Willetts said: ‘Removing paywalls that surround taxpayer funded research will have real economic and social benefits. It will allow academics and businesses to develop and commercialise their research more easily and herald a new era of academic discovery. This development will provide exciting new opportunities and keep the UK at the forefront of global research to drive innovation and growth.’ Among the recommendations that have been accepted by the Government are: [1] Moving to deliver open access through a ‘gold’ model, where article processing charges are paid upfront to cover the cost of publication. [2] Introducing walk-in rights for the general public, so they can have free access to global research publications owned by members of the UK Publishers’ Association via public libraries. [3] Extending the licensing of access enjoyed by universities to high technology businesses for a modest charge. The recommendations have also been welcomed by Research Councils UK (RCUK) and Funding Councils who have also set out their plans for open access... The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) have also welcomed the report and will be making open access published research the basis for the Research Excellence Framework from 2014.”