[BOAI] US Presidential Open Access Directive: 3 Cheers and 8 Suggestions

[Stevan Harnad]

The new US OATP Presidential
Directive<http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/ostp_public_access_memo_2013.pdf>
requiring
the largest US funding agencies to mandate OA within 12 months of
publication is a wonderful step forward for the entire planet.

Here are some crucial implementational details that will maximize the
mandates' effectiveness.

(1) Specify that the deposit of each article must be in an *institutional
repository* (so the universities and research institutions can monitor and
ensure compliance as well as adopt mandates of their own).

(2) Specify that the deposit must be done *immediately upon publication*.

(3) Urge (but do not require) authors to make the immediate-deposit
immediately-OA.

(4) Urge (but do not require) authors to reserve the right to make their
papers immediately-OA (and other re-use rights) in their contracts with
their publishers (as in the Harvard-style mandates).

(5) Shorten, or, better, do not mention allowable OA embargoes at all (so
as not to encourage publishers to adopt them).

(6) Implement the repositories' automated "email eprint request" Button
(for embargoed [non-OA] deposits).

(7) Designate repository deposit as the sole mechanism for submitting
publications for performance review, research assessment, grant
application, or grant renewal.

(8) Implement rich usage and citation metrics in the institutional
repositories as incentive for compliance.

If this is all done universally, universal OA will soon be upon us -- and a
global transition to affordable, sustainable Fair-Gold OA (instead of
today's premature, double-paid Fool's-Gold), plus as much CC-BY as users
need and authors wish to provide -- will not be far behind.
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