[GOAL] UK Business, Innovation and Skills Committee Publishes Government Response and RCUK response to its report on Open Access

[Richard Poynder]

Business, Innovation and Skills Committee

 

Select Committee Announcement No.35

Tuesday 26 November 2013

 

COMMITTEE PUBLISHES GOVERNMENT RESPONSE AND RCUK RESPONSE TO 

ITS REPORT ON OPEN ACCESS

 

Today, the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee is publishing the
Government Response and RCUK Response to the Committee's Fifth Report of
Session 2013-14, Open Access.

 

Commenting on the Government Response, Adrian Bailey MP, Chair of the
Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, said:

 

"I am pleased that the Government has embraced many of our recommendations.
The following aspects of the Response are to be welcomed in particular:

 

*         The Government's statement that publishers must "immediately
develop" sustainable solutions to "improve on the transparency" of the
effect of payment of Article Processing Charges (APCs) on subscription rates
to counter double dipping by publishers. The Government's important
clarification that it "does not consider it appropriate for publishers to
rely on retrospectively amortising their APC revenue to discount global
subscription rates" will provide clear direction for publishers in this
respect.

 

*         The Government's agreement that Higher Education Institutions
should not be required by publishers to accept non-disclosure clauses in
publishing contracts which involve public funds.

 

*         The confirmation that authors have freedom of choice over where to
publish, and whether they opt for the Gold or Green route to open access.
The recent Finch group Review of Progress adopts the same position. Our
Report considered such freedom of choice to be fundamental, and it is a
positive development that there is consensus from the Government, the Finch
group and RCUK on this point. 

 

*         The Government's decision to commission a study to assess the
feasibility of a full cost benefit analysis of its own open access policy.
The Government announced its open access policy 16 months ago. The delay in
undertaking a full cost benefit analysis inevitably raises questions about
the extent to which the Government's open access policy is evidence based. 

 

Our inquiry has, from the start, maintained a clear focus on increasing
access to publicly funded research. The fact that "many universities have
established a preference for Green OA", as the Finch Review of Progress has
recently found, shows the disparity between the  express preference of the
Government and the Finch group for Gold open access funded by APCs, and the
economic realities that UK HEIs and researchers are dealing with.

The Committee will continue to watch this policy area closely and will want
to see evidence of significant progress by the time of RCUK's review in late
2014."

 

--ENDS--

 

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