[GOAL] Re: HEFCE Consultation on limiting submission to future REF to Open Access papers

[Stevan Harnad]

On 2013-10-08, at 8:12 AM, Stephen Linton <sl4 at ST-ANDREWS.AC.UK> wrote:

> A question:
> 
> Are there current respectable publication venues that preclude putting a copy in an 
> institutional repository on terms that would be acceptable to HEFCE for the REF?

No. 60% of journals already endorse immediate, unembargoed OA. Of the remaining
40%, most endorse an OA embargo of about a year. Hence a one year delay is the
figure to beat. And HEFCE/REF immediate-deposit requirement does just that, by
generating 60% immediate-OA and 40% Almost-OA (as mediated by the repositories'
automated eprint-request Button.

(In case there is any misunderstanding on this score, no publisher has any say
whatsoever over whether and when an author deposits one of his own papers
in his own institutional repository under restricted (non-OA) access -- only, 
repository manager and REF readers have access. That is strictly a matter
of institutional archiving and accounting.)

> This seems to be the key issue. If there are such venues, then
> all the problems people are suggesting are real -- I, or my co-authors
> might want to publish some work in such a venue. If so, I have to decide
> whether this is likely to be work I might want to use for the REF at the
> time of submission. My co-authors might be overseas and have reasons
> of their own for wanting a particular venue. In this case, this the response
> seems appropriate.

This is a pseudo-problem. There are no such "venues". HEFCE/REF restores
UK authors' freedom of choice to publish in any  venue they wish (journal or
conference): all they need to do is deposit the refereed, accepted draft in their
insitutional repositories, immediately upon acceptance, whether or not OA
is embagoed.

> If there are no such venues, then it's a non-issue, or at worst a bit of annoying
> bureaucracy.  

There are no such venues. Immediate-deposit is a bureaucratic ("keystroke")
mandate, not a copyright issue.

Stevan Harnad

> On 7 Oct 2013, at 16:59, Morris Sloman <M.Sloman at IMPERIAL.AC.UK> wrote:
> 
>> HEFCE are proposing that only open access papers can be submitted to the next REF after 2014.
>> See http://www.hefce.ac.uk/whatwedo/rsrch/rinfrastruct/oa/ for an overview of their proposals
>> 
>> The full consultation questions can be down loaded from
>> 
>> http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/year/2013/201316/
>> 
>> 
>> I attach the Draft combined UKCRC/CPHC response to the consultation.
>> Although we agree with open access we do not think this is a criteria for REF submission.  The only criteria should be quality of research.  
>> 
>> Closing date for comments is 25 October to allow me time to collate in the final version. 
>> 
>> I urge people to try and influence their own institutions to respond to this.
>> 
>> HEFCE claims they have widespread support for the policy. 
>> 
>> 
>> Morris 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> <UKCRC-CPHC-OA ResponseV2.pdf>
> 

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