1 Introduction
1. Open access refers to the immediate, online
availability of peer reviewed research articles, free at the point
of access (i.e. without subscription charges or paywalls). Open
access relates to scholarly articles and related outputs. Open
data (which is a separate area of Government policy and outside
the scope of this inquiry) refers to the availability of the underlying
research data itself. At the heart of the open access movement
is the principle that publicly funded research should be publicly
accessible. Open access expanded rapidly in the late twentieth
century with the growth of the internet and digitisation (the
transcription of data into a digital form), as it became possible
to disseminate research findings more widely, quickly and cheaply.
2. Whilst there is widespread agreement that
the transition to open access is essential in order to improve
access to knowledge, there is a lack of consensus about the best
route to achieve it. To achieve open access at scale in the UK,
there will need to be a shift away from the dominant subscription-based
business model. Inevitably, this will involve a transitional period
and considerable change within the scholarly publishing market.
3. For the UK to transition to open access, an
effective, functioning and competitive market in scholarly communications
will be vital. The evidence we saw over the course of this inquiry
shows that this is currently far from the case, with journal subscription
prices rising at rates that are unsustainable for UK universities
and other subscribers. There is a significant risk that the Government's
current open access policy will inadvertently encourage and prolong
the dysfunctional elements of the scholarly publishing market,
which are a major barrier to access.
The Finch Report's recommendation
for Gold funded by Article Processing Charges
4. The Government has said that it is committed
to ensuring that publicly funded research should be accessible
free of charge.[3] Open
access is part of the Department for Business, Innovation and
Skills' policy of investment in research, development and innovation,
and also part of the Government's wider transparency agenda.
5. In October 2011, BIS commissioned an independent
working group chaired by Dame Janet Finch to examine how to expand
access to the quality assured published outputs of research, including
publicly funded research. The working group reported in June 2012.
The Finch Report recommended that in order to expand access, there
should be a "mixed model with a range of channels to publication",[4]
which would be a combination of subscriptions, hybrid and fully
open access publishing and repositories.
6. The key recommendation was for "a clear
policy direction" towards Gold open access funded by article
processing charges (APCs) as the "main vehicle" for
publication of research.[5]
On the same day that the Government response was issued, Research
Councils UK (RCUK) issued its revised open access policy and guidance,
setting out its preference for Gold funded by APCs. Neither the
Government nor RCUK undertook public consultation before announcing
their policies.
7. Gold and Green open access
are the two most common routes to providing
open access. Authors who opt for Gold open access publish their
articles in an open access journal that provides free immediate
open access to all of its articles on the publisher's website.
The publisher may or may not charge the author an Article Processing
Charge (APC) to publish the article.
8. Authors opting for Green open access publish
in any subscription journal, and then make their peer-reviewed
final draft freely accessible online by self-archiving or depositing
the article in a repository (either institutional,
such as University College London's repository UCL Discovery,[6]
or disciplinary, such as arXiv,[7]
for research in high energy physics) upon acceptance for publication.
Green Open Access can be immediate or embargoed. 60% of journals
allow authors to self-archive their work and make it freely available
on publication.[8] Embargoed
articles can usually be accessed by sending an automatic request
to the author for an e-print of the article.
Our inquiry
9. We announced our inquiry into open access
in January 2013, with the following terms of reference:
- The Government's acceptance
of the recommendations of the Finch Group Report 'Accessibility,
sustainability, excellence: how to expand access to research publications',
including its preference for the 'gold' over the 'green' open
access model;
- Rights of use and re-use in relation to open
access research publications, including the implications of Creative
Commons 'CC-BY' licences;
- The costs of article processing charges (APCs)
and the implications for research funding and for the taxpayer;
and
- The level of 'gold' open access uptake in the
rest of the world versus the UK, and the ability of UK higher
education institutions to remain competitive.
10. The House of Lords Science and Technology
Committee's report The implementation of open access (February
2013) considered RCUK's plan for implementation of the Finch Report's
recommendations "in the light of concerns raised by both
the academic and publishing communities",[9]
and stated:
We have accepted that the Government are committed
to the policy reflected in the Finch Group's recommendations.
We have not, therefore, challenged the conclusions of the Finch
Group, but confined the scope of this inquiry to considering their
implementation.[10]
11. The primary difference in focus between our
inquiry and that of the House of Lords Science and Technology
Committee is that we have conducted a wider examination of the
conclusions and recommendations of the Finch Report, as reflected
in the Government's open access policy. In the course of our inquiry
we received over one hundred written submissions and held two
oral evidence sessions with representatives of the publishing
industry (both commercial and not for profit); learned societies;
RCUK; Higher Education Funding Council for England; a leading
economist and academic expert on open access; representatives
of the Higher Education sector, and the Government. We would like
to place on record our thanks to all those who contributed to
this inquiry.
3 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Innovation
and Research Strategy for Growth , December 2011, paras 6.6-6.8 Back
4
The Finch Report, para 9.31 Back
5
The Finch Report, para 3 Back
6
Ev w183 Back
7
Ev w187 Back
8
Ev 116 and http://romeo.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2011/11/24/60-of-journals-allow-immediate-archiving-of-peer-reviewed-articles-but-it-gets-much-much-better/ Back
9
House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, The implementation
of open access, February 2013, para 4 Back
10
Ibid Back
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