The implementation of open access
Chapter 1: Introduction
1. Developments in technology are revolutionising
the methods of publishing the results of academic research. Conventional
forms of publication include hard copy peer-reviewed papers, monographs
and books. In recent years, there has been significant growth
in the online publication of scientific papers. This can be in
the form of drafts of papers in progress, un-refereed articles
published by individuals, commentaries and blogs, and final versions
(in substance, and sometimes format) of peer-reviewed journal
articles.
2. This inquiry focused on the electronic publication
of peer-reviewed journal articles. Increasingly, academic journals
are complementing their subscription-based print copies with electronic
article access. Publishers take a range of approaches to income
generation to cover the costs of reviewing, editing and printing.
Some put articles behind a paywall—this means that only
those paying a subscription to the journal or prepared to pay
a one-off fee can access them. Others allow copies of the article
to be deposited (under varying rules on whether pre-review, pre-print
or published version may be shared) in subject or institutional
repositories (online catalogues of articles), often imposing an
embargo period so that readers wishing to see an article soon
after its publication would either have to pay a one-off fee or
subscribe to the journal. Others make all content available free
of charge to the end-user and charge authors (or their institutions)
a fee.
3. Open access to journals (making them available
at no charge to users) is growing and projected to continue to
do so.[1] It offers potential
benefits of rapid dissemination and exploitation of new research,
but at the same time could de-stabilise the current business models
of academic publishing if not carefully managed. The Government
are committed to improving access to publicly-funded research,
and, in October 2011, they set up an independent working group,
under the chairmanship of Professor Dame Janet Finch (the
Finch Group) to "examine how most effectively to expand access
to the quality-assured published outputs of research".[2]
The group reported in June 2012. The Government accepted most
of the group's recommendations in their response published in
July 2012.[3]
4. The purpose of this short inquiry was to consider
the Research Council UK (RCUK) plan for implementation of the
group's recommendations in the light of concerns raised by both
the academic and publishing communities, with a view to making
recommendations to support an RCUK review of its open access policy
guidance. 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.
5. We issued a targeted call for evidence in
December 2012, and details of the inquiry were posted on our website.
The call for evidence is set out in Appendix 3. Seventy four submissions
were received. We held five evidence sessions over the course
of two days in January 2013.
6. The membership and interests of the Committee
are set out in Appendix 1, and those who submitted written and
oral evidence are listed in Appendix 2. We are grateful to all
those who assisted us in our work.
1 Report of the Working Group on Expanding Access to
Published Research Findings: Accessibility, sustainability,
excellence: how to expand access to research publications,
June 2012. Back
2
Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings:
Terms of reference, 2011. Back
3
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS): Government
Response to the Finch Group Report: "Accessibility, sustainability,
excellence: how to expand access to research publications",
July 2012. Back
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