[GOAL] Open Access Mandates: Q&A with the NIH

[Richard Poynder]

Why is the NIH proving more successful in achieving compliance with its open
access policy than the Wellcome Trust (which currently has a compliance rate
of 55%).

 

- The initial NIH voluntary policy saw compliance rates of 19%.

-The mandatory policy (introduced in April 2008) saw compliance grow to 49%
by the end of 2008, 70% by the end of 2009 and currently stands at 75%.

-In order to increase compliance the NIH has a) engaged in awareness
programs; b) improved its ability to track papers resulting from NIH
research awards; c) developed new systems to assist sponsored research
offices at universities and medical research centres in tracking their
compliance; d) improved the submission process for authors by i) co-opting
publishers to deposit for authors and ii) introducing the NIH Manuscript
Submission System <http://www.nihms.nih.gov/> .

 

One noteworthy point is that, while the NIH clearly takes a close interest
in compliance levels, it does not collect statistics on enforcement actions.
With the growth in compliance now apparently levelling off at NIH, this
would surely be useful information - and not just for NIH itself, but also
for other funders like the Wellcome Trust and Research Councils UK  (RCUK
<http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/Pages/Home.aspx> ), both of whom are currently
looking to beef up
<http://www.openscholarship.org/jcms/c_7297/new-stronger-uk-research-council
s-policy-on-open-access>  their open access policies.

 

http://poynder.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/open-access-mandates-ensuring.html

 

 

 

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