[BOAI] New Open Access website encourages exchange of research data

[Peter Suber]

[Forwarding from SURF.  --Peter Suber.]


New Open Access website encourages exchange of research data

Website developed by SURF

Utrecht, 20 October 2009 – SURF, the higher 
education and research partnership for network 
services and ICT in the Netherlands, is launching 
the website 
<http://www.openaccess.nl/>www.openaccess.nl. The 
website has been developed on behalf of the whole 
higher education sector and links up with 
international Open Access week (19 to 23 October).

The Open Access website provides structured 
information about Open Access to research results 
and the advantages that Open Access has. 
Practical examples are used to illustrate the 
possibilities opened up by the Internet for 
innovations in scholarly communication. The 
website provides researchers with information 
about how Open Access can give their work a 
larger potential audience. Openaccess.nl shows 
the options that each discipline has for making 
research results openly accessible.

Leading researchers

On the website, Robbert Dijkgraaf (President of 
the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and 
Sciences, KNAW) explains why Open Access 
publication is necessary: “The starting point is 
that the maximum possible number of people should 
be able to have access to the results of science 
and scholarship. Ultimately, that will provide 
the greatest benefit for science and 
scholarship.” Other leading researchers, 
including a Nobel Prize-winner, provide 
inspiration, including for administrators and 
teachers. The English-language website is 
intended mainly for those involved in higher 
education and research in the Netherlands.

Open Access week

The website will go online during international 
Open Access week, when research universities, 
universities of applied sciences and research 
institutes will be devoting extra attention to 
the importance of Open Access to the results of 
research that has been financed with public 
money. Many of the Dutch universities will be 
organising information sessions to explain the 
advantages of Open Access publication to their 
scholars. The higher education sector hopes that 
by providing examples and practical help, it can 
inspire present and future researchers. SURF is 
coordinating the programme in the Netherlands.

The idea behind Open Access is a simple one: 
research that has been financed with public funds 
should be accessible to everybody and not only to 
institutions that can afford to pay for 
increasingly expensive subscriptions. A recent 
economics study has shown that Open Access 
publication can save the Netherlands up to 133 
million euros each year. This does not need to 
have a detrimental effect on the quality of 
scientific and scholarly research; after all, 
there are many different routes leading to Open Access.

Links
    * Dutch Open Access website: <http://www.openaccess.nl/>www.openaccess.nl
    * National programme for Open Access week: 
<http://www.surffoundation.nl/openaccess>www.surffoundation.nl/openaccess
    * International programme for Open Access 
week: <http://www.openaccessweek.org/>www.openaccessweek.org
    * SURF statement about the concept of “open”: 
<http://www.surf.nl/open>www.surf.nl/open
    * Economics study of savings through Open 
Access: 
<http://www.surffoundation.nl/en/publicaties/Pages/CostsandBenefitsofOpenAccessPublicationlTheDutchSituation.aspx>www.surffoundation.nl/en/publicaties/Pages/CostsandBenefitsofOpenAccessPublicationlTheDutchSituation.aspx 



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About SURF

SURF unites the Dutch research universities, 
universities of applied sciences, and research 
institutions in creating pioneering ICT 
innovations, thereby enabling them to make the 
best possible use of the opportunities afforded 
by ICT and to excel in their education and 
research efforts. SURF consists of three 
organisations: SURFfoundation, SURFnet and SURFdiensten.

For more information, go to:

SURF

Annemiek van der Kuil
T: +31 (0)30 234 6600
E: vanderkuil(at)surf.nl







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