[BOAI] Joint UNESCO-COAR Statement on Open Access

[Iryna Kuchma]

[Forwarded message from Kathleen Shearer]


(sorry for the cross posting)

*Joint COAR-UNESCO Statement on Open Access*

Open access is a global trend, with policies and practices rapidly being
adopted around the world. As the world enters a new era of sustainable
development, openness and inclusiveness in scientific research will become
increasingly critical. While most governments agree on the underlying
principles of open access, there is significant diversity in the way
countries have approached its implementation. These differences reflect a
range of perspectives, values, and priorities of the different regions.
Clearly, there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to implementing open
access.

*It is imperative that governments and the research community encourage a
variety of approaches to the implementation of OA. This will result in a
healthier and more innovative ecosystem for scholarly publishing, and
ultimately lead to greater use and impact of research.*

Some organizations are promoting a large-scale shift from subscriptions to
open access via article processing charges (APC’s). However, there are a
number of issues that need to be addressed in this model:

   - *Consider institutions with smaller budgets and developing
countries.* Authors
   will be unable to publish once limited funds have been exhausted. Such a
   system will need to support researchers who cannot pay APCs – to avoid
   further skewing a scholarly publishing system that is already biased
   against the research undertaken in certain disciplines and countries.


   - *Avoid further concentration in the international publishing industry.* A
   flip to APCs will further consolidate the large-scale monopoly of the
   international publishing industry. In the current system, the five largest
   publishers publish over 50% of the research papers produced.(1) A mere
   shift towards the pay-to-publish model will institutionalize the influence
   of these companies, and discourage new entrants and models other than APC
   models.


   - *Explore ways to reduce costs. *Recent studies indicate that, at
   current APC costs, there would be a buffer of minimum 40% when
   subscriptions would be transferred to an open access model. New models
   should build in mechanisms that ensure cost reductions.(2) Globally, we are
   already paying billions of Euros/Dollars per year on subscription access to
   journals. Simply shifting payments to support APCs may lead to higher
   systemic costs, curb innovation, and inhibit the scholarly community’s
   ability to take advantage of new models and tools.

There are numerous high quality and economically viable journals that do
not rely on APCs. Additionally, while journals play an important role,
repositories have been established around the world and they represent the
primary mechanisms for implementing open access in the vast majority of
countries. Individual repositories are linked via national and regional
discovery services like OpenAIRE and LA Referencia, and regional services
are entering into agreements about data exchange that will ensure truly
international and cost-effective coverage of publication output, and
support the development of innovative, value added services on top of the
global network.

As noted in UNESCO’s World Science Report, “The creation and transfer of
scientific knowledge are critical to building and sustaining socio-economic
welfare and integration in the global economy. In the long run, no region
or nation can remain a simple ‘user’ of new knowledge but must also become
a ‘creator’ of new knowledge.”(3) A large-scale continental shift towards a
pay to publish model in Europe may have significant unintended consequences
for both Europe and elsewhere by impeding global participation in the
system and contribute to a more consolidated and costly scholarly
publishing system.

The full text available here:
http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/news/coar_unesco_oa_statement.pdf
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For more information, please contact:

Kathleen Shearer
Executive Director, Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR)
m.kathleen.shearer at gmail.com - +1 514 992 9068
Skype: kathleen.shearer2 - twitter: @KathleeShearer
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