APPENDIX 83
Memorandum from Aslib
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.0 Aslib—The Association for Information
Management is the leading global corporate membership organisation
in its field, with members in some 70 countries. Aslib actively
promotes best practice in the management of information resources.
It lobbies on all aspects of the management of, and the legislation
concerning, information at local, national and international levels.
1.1 Many of Aslib's members are at the forefront
of providing access to the results of scientific research. Our
corporate membership includes the British Library, the National
Library of Scotland, many universities and other academic institutions,
government departments and agencies, representatives from the
health sector, as well as those commercial operations which rely
heavily on research to maintain their competitive edge.
1.2 Aslib has consulted with its constituency
of members, and produced this document as a result of that process,
in response to the call for submissions by the Science and Technology
Committee. The structure of special interest groups and regional
branches, the meetings of these groups, as well as Aslib's award
winning magazine Managing Information, and its electronic newsletters,
have been used to facilitate the consultation process. A working
group of relevant senior and experienced key group and branch
committee members has guided the development of this submission.
1.3 The UK research community cannot operate
in isolation from the global research environment. Although its
output is significant, the UK research activity is not dominant
in the global context, and the UK on its own cannot control such
aspects as the business models for journal publishing. The dominant
force is the USA.
1.4 Publishing the results of research contributes
greatly to the quality of the overall research activity. It also
benefits the UK as an enterprise, and the quality of life of its
citizens.
1.5 The publishing activity also incurs
significant costs. These must be recovered one way or another,
and there are a number of models for doing this. Hitherto, the
most popular model has been that of the commercial publisher,
although there has also been a significant output from the not-for-profit
sector. The income from publishing research must recover costs,
accrue sufficient income to invest in improvements, and in the
case of commercial publishers, also yield a profit to pay dividends
to shareholders, a legitimate function of a business.
1.6 The peer review process is a significant
benefit of the traditional publishing model, which ensures the
quality and integrity of the research. The peer review systems
however incur significant costs.
1.7 The full benefits of research results
cannot be realised unless those who need to know are aware of
the existence of the research, and can easily access the results.
This is where librarians and information managers add significant
value to the research activity through their expertise in souring,
organising, storing, conserving, and providing access to, information.
1.8 An impression of the benefits that libraries
and information management services deliver can be gained from
recent research carried out by the British Library which showed
that this library alone contributes £363 million annually
to the UK economy.
1.9 There is growing concern that our younger
researchers place undue emphasis on internet search engines and
web-based sources, overlooking the fact that search engines only
scratch at the surface of the information available, and that
the sources which may come up using a search engine may be of
very poor quality, and are unlikely to be peer reviewed.
1.10 The acquisitions budgets of libraries
and information services in the UK, and elsewhere, have been under
considerable pressure for many years. They have not been keeping
pace with the rapid changes which have been taking place in journal
publishing, the increased costs, and the significant growth in
output of research material. The effects of this have been exacerbated
by the fact that in the UK, print journals are zero rated for
VAT, whereas VAT is payable on the electronic versions.
1.11 The Open Access business model is a
product of the frustration that the academic world, and libraries
in particular, has been feeling at the spiralling costs of journal
publishing, combined with the stagnant or falling purchasing budgets.
As yet there is insufficient experience of this model, or empirical
evidence available to ascertain whether it has a stable and sustainable
long-term future in disseminating scientific, technical and medical
research.
1.12 Aslib makes the following recommendations
to the Committee:
1.12.1 Library acquisitions funding should
be increased to keep pace with increased costs (which are not
merely inflationary, but also costs associated with increasing
output and improved functionality), see references12.2 and 12.3
for figures.
1.12.2 In the immediate future, non-commercial
educational and research establishments should be exempt from
paying VAT on electronic information. In the longer term, the
UK should lobby the EU for parity on the VAT applicable to paper
and electronic formats.
1.12.3 Duties are laid upon the legal deposit
libraries, including the storage, organisation, accessibility
and functionality, as well as conservation, of legal deposit material.
Funding must be sufficient for those obligations to be met, to
maximise access and therefore the benefits to those who need them,
and to assure their long-term existence in the best possible condition.
1.12.4 Licensing schemes for journals and
content should be investigated, to ensure that they are fair to
all parties and sustainable in the long-term.
1.12.5 The government should neither support
nor oppose open access journals, but should support research into
their long-term future including an assessment of the positive
and negative results they will have. Research should also be undertaken
into the effectiveness of peer review in the open access model,
and the best ways of ensuring the quality and integrity of research.
1.12.6 The Office of Fair Trading's Research
(which found evidence that the Scientific Technical and Medical
journals market in the UK may not be working) should be followed
up by further thorough investigations. See 12.4 for references.
1.12.7 The Committee should endorse the role
of librarians and information managers in selecting, evaluating,
procuring, organising, disseminating and conserving information
sources in all formats.
1.12.8 The Committee should also devote attention
to the ways of best archiving, conserving, facilitating access
to, and exploiting the considerable body of grey literature (material
which is not formally published) to the benefit of the scientific,
technical and medical research community, and the UK as a whole.
Grey literature plays a significant role in the research activity,
and its importance should not be overlooked.
2. ABOUT ASLIB
2.1.1 Aslib—The Association for Information
Management is the leading global corporate membership organisation
in its field, with members in some 70 countries. It was established
in 1924. Aslib actively promotes best practice in the management
of information resources. A vibrant publishing activity has increasingly
been developed in cooperation with Aslib's partners. The variety
of perspectives and expertise provided by its international membership
is further enhanced by it providing the secretariat for ECIA—the
European Council for Information Associations.
2.2 It lobbies on all aspects of the management
of, and the legislation concerning, information at local, national
and international levels. Among its most recent lobbying activity
has been an extensive consultation exercise on the draft SI for
the implementation of EU Directive 29/2001 on the harmonisation
of certain aspects of copyright law in the European Union. It
has also lobbied on the extension of legal deposit to cover non-print
materials. The variety of perspectives and expertise provided
by its international membership is further enhanced by it providing
the secretariat for ECIA—the European Council for Information
Associations.
2.3 Many of Aslib's members are at the forefront
of providing access to the results of scientific research. Our
corporate membership includes the British Library, the National
Library of Scotland, many universities and other academic institutions,
government departments and agencies, representatives from the
health sector, as well as those commercial operations which rely
heavily on research to maintain their competitive edge. The members
range from solo practitioners, through to multinational corporations
with many thousands of employees. All corporate members are entitled
to join two of our special interest groups focussing on best practice
in one field (eg Biosciences, Information Technology and Computing,
or Engineering).
2.4 Aslib has consulted with its constituency
of members, and produced this document as a result of that process,
in response to the call for submissions by the Science and Technology
Committee. The structure of special interest groups and regional
branches, the meetings of these groups, as well as Aslib's award
winning magazine Managing Information, and its electronic newsletters,
have been used to facilitate the consultation process. A working
group of relevant senior and experienced key group and branch
committee members has guided the development of this submission.
3. THE RESEARCH
COMMUNITY
3.1 The UK research community cannot operate
in isolation from that of the rest of the world. It is not practical
for the UK Government to set a policy for journal publishing which
operates at variance to, and separate from, the business models
operating in the wider global community. The UK has a significant
output, particularly in the context of the population of the country,
and the numbers active in the research community. Although the
UK has influence, it is not able to exercise control over the
global research activity. The dominant player is the USA, and
it is significant that the impetus for open access emanates from
the USA. Trends in the dominant marketplace cannot but impact
on the UK scientific and technical journal publishing sphere.
4. RESEARCH AND
THE PUBLISHING
OF RESULTS
4.1 Publishing the results of research contributes
greatly to the quality of the overall research activity. It also
benefits the UK as an enterprise, and the quality of life of its
citizens.
4.2 Research is carried out, and is then
written up. Those carrying out the research wish to gain wider
recognition, and thus enhance their authority by maximising access
to the results of their work.
4.3 The traditional method of maximising
access is the academic journal. The predominant business model
for publishing such journals is the commercial publisher, although
learned societies, professional bodies and other not-for-profit
organisations have also made important contributions.
4.4 A process of peer review has been developed.
This ensures the quality and integrity of the research. Falsification
of research results is not completely eliminated, but there are
considerable disincentives to falsify because of the negative
reactions of the rest of the research community. The peer review
process is a significant benefit of the traditional publishing
model, but significant costs are involved, usually born by the
publisher. These costs are increased by the need for speedy peer
review, and require investment in IT and the staff to run the
systems.
4.5 The publishing activity also incurs
other significant costs. These must be recovered one way or another,
and there are a number of models for doing this. Hitherto, the
most popular model has been that of the commercial publisher,
although there has also been a significant output from the not-for-profit
sector. The income from publishing research must recover costs,
accrue sufficient income to invest in improvements, and in the
case of commercial publishers, also yield a profit to pay dividends
to shareholders, a legitimate function of a business.
4.6 The advent of electronic publication
has not on the whole reduced costs, because of the need to invest
in, and maintain, IT infrastructure, functionality for users,
and publish materials in both print and electronic formats. Digital
archives (including retrospective conversion of print materials
to digital format) also bring considerable costs, as well as the
benefits of enhanced searchability and accessibility.
5. THE ROLE
OF LIBRARIES
& INFORMATION RESOURCE
CENTRES AND
THE EXPERTISE
OF THOSE
WHO WORK
IN THEM
5.1 Libraries have traditionally been storehouses
for information, with that information accommodated in a variety
of print-based containers—books, journals, maps, pamphlets,
files etc. Libraries store information in the optimum conditions
deterioration for as long as is necessary, and the sources of
information are organised to make them as accessible as possible.
That role is rapidly changing, and the core skills of the librarian
are even more important given the exponential growth in information
brought about by the internet. The skills which have been applied
to the exploitation of print materials, are even more vital to
the effective exploitation of electronic digital information sources.
Librarians and information resource managers create gateways to
the sum total of human knowledge.
5.2 The librarian's expertise in procuring,
managing and exploiting information sources adds significant value,
and can be categorised under a number of headings.
5.2.1 Identification, evaluation and procurement.
It may be that there are a large number of sources of information,
and that space, acquisitions budget, or the time of the reader
is limited, so that only the highest quality, most authoritative,
or best value-for-money sources are selected. On the other hand,
the parent organisation might set the aim of being a centre of
excellence or expertise, in which case the librarian will work
to identify all the relevant sources of information. An important
role is also securing the best deals for purchase, so that the
parent body gets the best value-for-money.
5.2.2 Organisation of information—creating
metadata. If information is not organised, and made accessible,
it simply disappears into a black hole. Metadata (information
about information) ensures that information is accessible and
identifiable by those who need it. If a scientist in the UK is
not aware that research has already been undertaken in another
part of the country, or overseas, to develop non-fattening chips,
or a new non-polluting sustainable fuel for the internal combustion
engine, then there will be wasted research effort, and money.
Scientific and Technical journal articles are a very effective
way of communicating what is being, or has been developed, throughout
the scientific community. Storing and organising the materials
(through classification—a discipline now increasingly known
by the natural sciences term "taxonomy"), applying indexing
terms so that the relevant articles can be identified and located.
5.2.3 Awareness raising. Bulletins (increasingly
distributed by email) showing the latest acquisitions, and the
contents of the most recent journals, are created and disseminated
by librarians and information managers. These enable the scientists
and inventors, for whom time is precious, to quickly and conveniently
identify the information sources they need to consult, so that
they can concentrate on deploying their own skills and expertise
without wasting time laboriously searching for material.
5.2.4 Digital formats, and the ease of distribution
offered by internet technologies has brought about a massive growth
in the quantity of information available.
5.2.5 Particularly among younger people who
have grown up with internet technologies, there is a worrying
assumption that the use of an internet search engine will yield
all the information necessary. A White Paper by Bright Web published
in 2000, said that the "invisible web" or "deep
web" is more than 500 times larger than the "surface
web", ie that part of the web which the search engines provide
access (see 12.1 for reference on this subject). Again the skills
of identifying, locating and evaluating are very important. Excessive
reliance on the materials accessible through search engines, much
of which is of poor quality and lacking in authority, gives access
to only a small proportion of the electronic material potentially
available (not to mention material which is not available on the
web). Not tackling this issue will have very serious implications
for the quality of research in the future.
6. THE ACQUISITIONS
AND STAFF
BUDGETS OF
LIBRARIES AND
INFORMATION RESOURCE
CENTRES
6.1 Although digital formats have the potential
to reduce costs, in actual fact they have greatly increased the
amount of information available. The increased quantities of research
information are incorporated into the journal literature, and
the greater volumes push up costs. Also, the infrastructure and
technology necessary to take full advantage of the potential that
the new technologies offer require investment, and maintenance,
again tending to increase costs.
6.2 Frequently journal titles have been
made available in both print and digital formats, in some cases
with no choice or price advantage for taking one format only.
6.3 Journal acquisitions budgets have not
kept pace with increased costs (see 12.2 for reference to statistics
from LISU). Price increases are not merely inflationary, as indicated
above.
6.4 The result of acquisitions budgets not
keeping pace with real cost increases is that cuts in purchasing
have had to be made, particularly for those journal titles not
seen as core to the organisation's business. This in turn means
that the publisher cuts print runs, losing out on economies of
scale, and has to raise the price of journals to those who are
still subscribing. This puts further pressure on budgets, more
cuts are made, and a vicious circle is thus perpetuated. Furthermore,
VAT is due on electronic information, bot not on print formats,
which again pushes costs up.
6.5 Acquisitions are not the only element
of library budgets which are under pressure. The budgets for staff
are also not keeping pace with the increased demands, placed upon
those staff with the necessary information management skills,
caused by the exponential growth in information to be processed
and managed. Time spent searching for relevant documents is not
the best use of the academics' and researchers' time. Again this
poses dangers for the research function, and thus the competitiveness
of the UK economy.
7. OPEN ACCESS
BUSINESS MODELS
7.1 In this paper, we will not provide in-depth
explorations of what open access is about, since other relevant
bodies will submit evidence. However, we do provide a further
reading guide should the Committee wish to learn more, (see 13
for references).
7.2 Open Access models are a direct response
to frustrations brought about by the cost and budgetary pressures
outlined above.
7.3 There are two main ways in which open
access operates.
7.3.1 One is where authors make their papers
freely available online—either in prepublication format
(not peer-reviewed) known as pre-prints; or as postprints, ie
the form of the article after it has undergone peer-review, editing
etc. This form of open access greatly increases the body of grey
literature (ie material which is not formally published and therefore
difficult to identify).
7.3.2 In the other main form of open access,
traditional peer-reviewed journals are made freely available online.
Because this does not generate subscription information, and the
costs have to be recouped somehow, the cost of publication is
born by the author, or the author's employer.
7.4 There are three main points we wish
to make regarding open access.
7.4.1 There is insufficient experience of,
or empirical evidence about, the stability and viability of open
access publishing long term.
7.4.2 It could potentially undermine the
current business models for journal publications, and therefore
we would lose the investment in accessibility and functionality
which these models bring.
7.4.3 We do not know that the open access
model will be able to generate an income which will provide the
necessary authority, accessibility and functionality.
7.4.4 There is a strong case for arguing
that open access would not have come about if it had not been
for the severe budgetary constraints which have affected libraries
supporting the research function, and academic institutions as
a whole.
8. GREY LITERATURE
8.1 Grey literature plays a significant
role in the research activity, and its importance should not be
overlooked.
8.2 The body of grey literature is significantly
increasing due to the open access business models.
8.3 The Committee should also devote attention
to the ways of best archiving, conserving, facilitating access
to, and exploiting the considerable body of grey literature (material
which is not formally published) to the benefit of the scientific,
technical and medical research community, and the UK as a whole.
9. SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
We summarise the comments made above, under
the headings of the questions which the Committee set out in its
call for evidence.
9.1 What impact do publishers' current policies
on pricing and provision of scientific journals, particularly
`big deal schemes', have on libraries and the teaching and research
communities they serve?
9.1.1 Publishers' policies do not operate
in isolation; they are a response to market, technical, legislative
frameworks and government policy issues.
9.1.2 The lack of parity between the VAT
charged on print (zero) and electronic (where VAT is levied) means
that any economies through subscribing to electronic sources are
effectively negated by additional VAT charges.
9.1.3 The publishers need to earn a living,
and in the case of commercial firms are legitimately entitled
to have profit as an objective and to pay dividends to shareholders.
They need to make significant investment in new infrastructure
and functionality, as well as meeting the costs of maintenance.
9.1.4 The fact that academic and commercial
firms' library and information resource centre budgets are not
keeping pace with the increasing costs, (due not least to the
increased quantities of information available brought about by
internet technologies), means that subscriptions are being cut.
This in turn means reduced revenues to publishers, who lose the
economies of scale, and thus further increase subscriptions, which
creates a vicious circle. The government could help considerably
with this by increasing budgets available to the libraries and
information resource centres of academic and research institutions,
and by emphasising in the information it itself publishes (eg
DTI guidance for business) the importance of library and information
management skills, and budgets.
9.1.5 The so-called `big deals' benefit large
organisations with major purchasing power. Smaller operations,
which are none the less still important to the economy, are not
able to take advantage of these offers, and therefore lose out.
9.1.6 Licensing schemes are a particular
area of concern. There are heavy premiums for multi-site licences.
Also, in the case of print journals, the librarian is able to
select the number of copies of a journal title which they require,
according to use. In the case of licences for electronic publications,
there are blanket licences according to total number of employees,
students etc, regardless of the use of that particular title.
This reduces the librarian's control over their purchases.
9.1.7 The Office of Fair Trading has conducted
an investigation into the scientific technical and medical journals
market (see 12.4 for the reference), which found evidence that
this market is not working as it should, particularly because
of mergers and acquisitions reducing competition in the marketplace.
This requires further, thorough, investigation.
9.2 What action should government, academic
institutions and publishers be taking to promote a competitive
market in scientific publications?
9.2.1 Again we point to the Office of Fair
Trading's report. On the scientific technical and medical journals
market (see appendix xx). The effects of mergers and acquisitions
on competition in the marketplace need further investigation.
9.3 What are the consequences of increasing
numbers of open-access journals, for example for the operation
of the Research Assessment Exercise and other selection processes?
Should the government support such a trend and, if so, how?
9.3.1 There is insufficient experience of,
or empirical evidence about, the stability and viability of open
access publishing long term.
9.3.2 It could potentially undermine the
current business models for journal publications, and therefore
we would lose the investment in accessibility and functionality
which these models bring.
9.3.3 We do not know that the open access
model will be able to generate an income which will provide the
necessary accessibility and functionality.
9.3.4 There is a strong case for arguing
that open access would not have come about if it had not been
for the severe budgetary constraints which have affected libraries
supporting the research function, and academic institutions as
a whole.
9.3.5 The Government should neither support
nor oppose open access journals, but should support research into
their long-term future including an assessment of the positive
and negative results they will have. Research should also be undertaken
into the effectiveness of peer review in the open access model,
and the best ways of ensuring the quality and integrity of research.
9.4 How effectively are the Legal Deposit
Libraries making available non-print scientific publications to
the research community, and what steps should they be taking in
this respect?
9.4.1 The key Legal Deposit Library in the
UK is the British Library, the only one fulfilling a document
supply role to the UK as a whole.
9.4.2 Up until the Royal Assent for the Bill
to extend Legal Deposit to cover non-print materials in November
2003, there was no requirement to deposit digital material with
the legal deposit libraries. Although Royal Assent has been granted,
the systems and processes for Legal Deposit of digital materials
are not yet in operation.
9.4.3 This means there is a serious danger
that important aspects of the national record, held only in digital
format, have been lost.
9.4.4 That said, a great deal of good work
has been done to preserve digital material already through voluntary
schemes developed by the British Library and Publishers. Given
that no legislative framework placed any obligations for the Legal
Deposit prior to the Royal Assent for the new in November 2003,
and that the BL had to resource it out of existing budgets, this
has worked very well.
9.4.5 The effectiveness of the Legal Deposit
system depends in very large measure upon funding being adequate
to keep pace with the demands of both the material being published,
and those needing to access it.
9.5 What impact will trends in academic
journal publishing have on the risks of scientific fraud and malpractice?
9.5.1 Existing systems for reducing fraud
and malpractice, namely peer-review and peer-pressure, have provided
a very effective protection against fraud and malpractice. We
believe, with certain qualifications, that they will continue
to do so.
9.5.2 We do have particular concerns about
the potential effects of non-peer reviewed open access.
9.5.3 We also believe that there are dangers
that Open Access will not be able to support the costs of the
peer review system. If charges to authors are imposed to cover
the cost of peer review, it will merely transfer the costs from
one part of the academic system to another.
9.5.4 We believe that there is an urgent
need for training and awareness raising among the younger researchers,
those who have grown up in the internet age, of the dangers of
over reliance on material available on the web, which may be of
very dubious quality, and which has been obtained through the
use of well-know search engines without any effort to delve deeper
into the body of material available.
10. SUMMARY OF
RECOMMENDATIONS
10.1 Aslib makes the following recommendations
to the Committee:
10.1.1 Library acquisitions funding should
be increased to keep pace with increased costs (which are not
merely inflationary, but also costs associated with increasing
output and improved functionality). See 12.2 and 12.3 for references
to statistics.
10.1.2 In the immediate future, non-commercial
educational and research establishments should be exempt from
paying VAT on electronic information. In the longer term, the
UK should lobby the EU for parity on the VAT applicable to paper
and electronic formats.
10.1.3 Duties are laid upon the legal deposit
libraries, including the storage, organisation, accessibility
and functionality, as well as conservation, of legal deposit material.
Funding must be sufficient for those obligations to be met, to
maximise access and therefore the benefits to those who need them,
and to assure their long-term existence in the best possible condition.
10.1.4 Licensing schemes for journals and
content should be investigated.
10.1.5 The government should neither support
nor oppose open access journals, but should support research into
their long-term future including an assessment of the positive
and negative results they will have. Research should also be undertaken
into the effectiveness of peer review in the open access model,
and the best ways of ensuring the quality and integrity of research.
10.1.6 The Office of Fair Trading's Research
(which found evidence that the Scientific Technical and Medical
journals market in the UK may not be working) should be followed
up by further thorough investigations. See 12.4 for the reference.
10.1.7 The Committee should endorse the role
of librarians and information managers in selecting, evaluating,
procuring, organising, disseminating and conserving information
sources in all formats.
10.1.8 The Committee should also devote attention
to the ways of best archiving, conserving, facilitating access
to, and exploiting the considerable body of grey literature (material
which is not formally published) to the benefit of the scientific,
technical and medical research community, and the UK as a whole.
Grey literature plays a significant role in the research activity,
and its importance should not be overlooked.
February 2004
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