[BOAI] Dutch higher education sector convinced of need for Open Access

[Peter Suber]

[Forwarding from SURF.  --Peter Suber.]

PRESS RELEASE

*Dutch higher education sector convinced of need for Open Access *

*EUR 2.5m available for Open Access to research results*

*Utrecht, 3 February 2010* – Open Access – meaning free access to scientific
and scholarly information – is winning ground, and more and more information
is becoming freely accessible to the public. The parties concerned –
including publishers – are increasingly accepting Open Access as the norm.
At the Open Access seminar organised by SURF in Amsterdam, Prof. Jos
Engelen, chairman of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research
(NWO), announced that his organisation would be providing a special Open
Access budget of EUR 2.5m.

At the well-attended seminar – held to mark the conclusion of SURF’s ‘Open
Access Year 2009’ – discussion focused on the issue of how we can speed up
progress towards achieving the Open Access ideal. Much has already been
achieved in the Netherlands. More than 200,000 publications have now been
made freely accessible via the NARCIS scientific portal. These will now be
joined by publications by the *lectors* who organise knowledge networks at
Dutch universities of applied sciences.

*Unanimity*

Leading figures from the world of higher education and research expressed
unanimous support for the view that scientific and scholarly publications
that have been financed by the taxpayer should be available online free of
charge. Derk Haank, CEO of the Springer publishing group, went so far as to
say that if scientific and scholarly publishing were to start again today,
Open Access would be the logical route to pursue.

*Publishers*

The Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) has reached
agreement with Springer that in 2010 all articles by Dutch researchers in
Springer journals will be made available Open Access, subject to the author
agreeing. Other publishers too are providing opportunities for Open Access
publication because they are following Springer in allowing researchers to
arrange for Open Access when publishing their articles. Almost all
publishers already allow researchers to upload the definitive author’s
version of their article to their institution’s repository.

*Problem*

One problem for scientists and scholars is the need to publish in
prestigious and expensive journals so as to receive a good rating, which is
important when applying for grants from organisations such as the NWO.
Prof. Engelen said that the NWO would investigate ways of ensuring that
publications in Open Access would count more significantly towards the
author’s ‘impact factor’. Paul Doop – a member of the board of Amsterdam
University and Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, and chair of the
ICT and Research platform board of SURFfoundation – argued that the problem
could be solved by including a provision for mandatory Open Access in
collective labour agreements. Many of those attending the seminar thought
that was going too far. Prof. Engelen said, however, that his organisation
was keeping close track of developments and that if insufficient progress
had been made in a year’s time, the NWO would see whether it could make Open
Access obligatory, as its sister organisations in the United Kingdom and the
United States have already done.


*Links*

   - Further information on the seminar and the video registration (in
   Dutch): *www.surffoundation.nl/openaccess*<http://www.surffoundation.nl/openaccess>:
   Open Access seminar
   - NARCIS: *www.narcis.nl*

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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.
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