[BOAI] Open access to Dutch research stagnating

[Peter Suber]

[Forwarding from Annemiek van der Kuil, via GOAL.   --Peter Suber.]

The message below has just been posted on the SURF
website<http://www.surf.nl/en/actueel/Pages/OpenAccesstoDutchresearchstagnating.aspx>and
might be of interest to you.
****

*Open access to Dutch research stagnating*

*Higher education sector needs to formulate policy and work arrangements
for Open Access ***

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*Utrecht, 2 April 2012 – *Open Access to higher education research results
is not increasing. This is shown by the *Dutch Research Repositories
Monitor 2011<http://www.surf.nl/SiteCollectionDocuments/Monitor2011_strategicsynopsis_ENGdef.pdf>
**, a study commissioned by SURF <http://www.surf.nl/en/Pages/default.aspx>.
Although the Berlin Declaration on Open
Access<http://oa.mpg.de/lang/en-uk/berlin-prozess/berliner-erklarung/>has
been signed by all the Dutch universities, the Association of
Universities of Applied Sciences (HBO-raad), the Royal Netherlands Academy
of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), and the Netherlands Organisation for
Scientific Research (NWO), it has not been put to action in the form of
specific objectives. There are only a few universities at which the
percentage of Open Access publications exceeds 20%. In the Knowledge Bank
for Universities of Applied
Sciences<http://www.hbo-kennisbank.nl/en/page/home/>,
which provides access to the knowledge products of these institutions, the
number of openly accessible publications and graduation projects is lagging
behind the number of graduates and *lectoraten* (knowledge networks). The
study compares the situation of the university repositories in 2007 and
2011. This is the first time such a study has been carried out for the
universities of applied sciences. ****

** **

*Recommendations*

The report makes recommendations for the higher education and research
sector to increase the accessibility of Dutch research: formulate joint
policy and make it easy for authors to deposit their publications.
Collective work arrangements regarding the national infrastructure must
also be maintained and updated. The report offers a means for determining,
in collaboration with the parties concerned, how these recommendations
should be implemented and by whom.**

** **

*Repositories supplying NARCIS*

The publications that are made available via the
NARCIS<http://www.narcis.nl/?Language=en>research portal are supplied
by universities and research institutions. The
study shows that the total number of publications in NARCIS is increasing
but that the number to which there is Open Access remains static. There are
only a few universities at which the percentage of Open Access publications
(as registered for VSNU
reports<http://www.vsnu.nl/Universiteiten/Branchejaarverslag-2010.htm>)
exceeds 20%. That is not any substantial improvement compared to the monitor
for 2007<http://www.surf.nl/nl/publicaties/Pages/SURFsharenulmeting'Nederlandseacademischerepositories%E2%80%99.aspx>
.

The NARCIS website has a number of deficiencies; these are due partly to
the repositories that supply it and partly to the central processing of the
data harvested from the repositories. One significant handicap is the lack
of joint work arrangements in line with the latest technical developments. *
***

** **

*Repositories supplying the Knowledge Bank for Universities of Applied
Sciences*

The Knowledge Bank for Universities of Applied Sciences (*HBO Kennisbank*)
harvests and displays the content of the repositories of 21 of these
institutions. At the end of 2011, this involved a total of almost 20,000
publications, with Open Access to 15,000 of these. It is not possible to
establish how this relates to the total number of publications by an
institution because neither the Association of Universities of Applied
Sciences nor the institutions have the relevant figures. It would seem,
however, that only a limited proportion of research publications find their
way into the Knowledge Bank.

The available student graduation projects are all available by means of
Open Access. The numbers have continued to rise in recent years to almost
2000 in 2010, but the number of graduation assignments available is only a
fraction of the total number of students who have graduated.

*Scenario for the future*

The study investigated the Open Access availability of the research output
at research universities, universities of applied sciences, and research
institutions. It also looked at the administration and organisation of the
repository infrastructure, technical developments, and the services
provided on the basis of repositories. The authors, Maurits van de Graaf
and Leo Waaijers, then sketch a scenario for the future for
NARCIS<http://www.narcis.nl/?Language=en>and the Knowledge
Bank for Universities of Applied
Sciences<http://www.hbo-kennisbank.nl/en/page/home/>,
and they make recommendations to the institutions. The main outlines of the
recommendations in the report have already been discussed with
representatives of the institutions concerned. The representatives see the
recommendations as a useful basis for a broad discussion with the
stakeholders regarding making arrangements and the division of tasks with a
view to optimisation. SURF will coordinate the reorientation of the
repository infrastructure. ****

** **

*NARCIS and the Knowledge Bank for Universities of Applied Sciences*

The Dutch research universities have been working on an infrastructure for
Open Access to knowledge since 2003. They have set up a network of
repositories in order to store publications and make them accessible via
the Internet. NARCIS <http://www.narcis.nl/?Language=en> is the central
portal for research information produced by the Dutch research universities
and research institutions. Following the example given by the research
universities, the universities of applied sciences began construction of a
similar network a few years later. The Knowledge Bank for Universities of
Applied Sciences <http://www.hbo-kennisbank.nl/en/page/home/> is the joint
portal – with functionality including a search function – for users of the
knowledge products generated by these institutions.****

** **

*About SURF*****

SURF is the collaborative organisation for academic universities,
universities of applied sciences and research institutions aimed at
breakthrough innovations in ICT. SURF supports higher education and
research in taking optimum advantage of the possibilities offered by ICT to
improve the quality of education and research. SURF provides the foundation
for the excellence of higher education and research in the Netherlands.****

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** the report is only available in Dutch. The Strategic Synopsis is
available in English<http://www.surf.nl/en/publicaties/Pages/Monitorsynopsis.aspx>
.*

** **

** **

Kind regards,****

Annemiek van der Kuil****

Annemiek van der Kuil | community manager ICT & Research | SURF | Graadt
van Roggenweg 340 | P.O.Box 2290 | 3500 GG Utrecht | T + 31 30 234 66 42 |
E vanderkuil at surf.nl W *www.surf.nl*****

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