Going for Gold: all or nothing in Open Access

Alex Clarke UWE Research Repository Manager Jenni Crossley / Judith Stewart RKE Librarians

UWE Repository http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk

Outline
What is open access? Theres no access problem What are the benefits / risks? What are the routes? What is happening in UK policy? Plus, opportunities for discussion.

UWE Repository http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk

What is open access?

Theres no access problem

Academic researchers: Theres no access problem:

76% have access problems at least monthly * No subscription: Subscription, but login problems: Access difficult or rare: 56% * 26% * 37% **

* Research Information Network, 5 studies on access in UK ** SOAP (Study on Open Access Publishing)
Slide from Alma Swan FNRS workshop, Brussels, Sep 2011

UWE Repository http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk

UWE Repository http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk

Further research
Elmes & Barry Deliverance, Denial and the Death Zone: a study of Narcissism and Regression.., 1999 Kayes - Dilemma at 29,000 feet: an Exercise in Ethical Decision Making, 2002 Mangione & Nelson - the 1996 Mount Everest Tragedy, contemplation on group process and group dynamics, 2003 Kayes - The 1996 Mount Everest climbing disaster: the breakdown of learning in teams, 2004 Tempest, Starkey and Ennew In the Death Zone: A study of limits in the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, 2007 Van Dyck The tragic 1996 Everest expedition: a tale of error culture, 2008

UWE Repository http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk

Elmes & Barry 1999 Open Access? Kayes 2002 Open Access? Mangione & Nelson 2003 Open Access?

Kayes 2004 Open Access?

Tempest, Starkey & Ennew 2007 Open Access?

Van Eyck 2008 Open Access? = Citations

Open access and citations

Key Perspectives Ltd

What do you feel are the risks / barriers to open access?

Some barriers to implementing OA

Copyright Plagiarism Journal prestige Income for professional societies Pay-walled journals provide professionally formatted and organized content with excellent metadata and robust services The version on a repository may not be the definitive version of a paper

Beyond simply being able to access research outputs, do you see any other potential benefits to open access?

Benefits for institutions

Showcase for institutions research output Marketing mechanism internally and externally REF and research management repositories support process Complies with research body requirements for open access publishing Allows systematic management and preservation of assets Encourages collaboration and inter-disciplinary work

Benefits for academics

Faster dissemination Wider readership Increased citation Compliance with funders mandates Secure environment to store own research output Personalise services statistics on downloads, personal profiles/bibliographies

People are engaging with my work. Theyre emailing me and we can have dialogues that way. You can start networking in a meaningful way, creating dialogues with people who, most of the time, youre actually not aware theyre working in that area. I think increasingly its also the way Research Councils are thinking. They place greater stress on sharing, networking, and partnerships
Andrew Spicer, Faculty of Arts, Creative Industries and Education

Which kinds of businesses could benefit from open access?

Healthcare services Civil engineers Construction companies Dentists Accountancy firms Archaeology services Horticulturalists Social service firms Consultancies, etc

Green Route
Green Route

Picture by Darkos http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkos/

Gold Route
Warren Pilkington, zawtowers, Flickr

Who pays?
Currently, two main options: Included in the research grant most of the big funders will pay University publication funds not common at the moment. UWE doesnt have one. Re-visit this a bit later.

Whats happening in UK policy?

Recommendations 2011
Short term:
Encourage use of Green In parallel, facilitate a transition to Gold (with provisos) Gold is preferable in the long run less disruptive to status quo

Long term

BUT the scale of the costs and the benefits depends on the future level of Article Procesing Charges (APCs), which it may be hard for policy-makers to influence; and there are higher transition costs in the transition to Gold compared with Green.

Accessibility, sustainability, excellence: how to expand access to research publications Report of the Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings The Finch Report June 2012

Recommendations 2012 going for gold

A clear policy on OA publishing (relies on Article Processing Charges (APCs) ie the author pays model). Little space for Green OA. RCs should support this through more flexible and effective arrangements to meet the cost of funding* Policies to minimise restrictions on re-use Implementation of walk-in use proposal at public libraries Review of costs of subscription journals during transition to OA Subject and institutional repositories should work to complement formal publishing (eg in the collection of theses) Embargo periods need to be considered for journals who are not funded via APCs.

Recommendations 2012
Accepted by UK Govt, but not without controversy!
Feeling that publishers are the winners Expense for HEIs (estimate at 50-60m pa cost of transition APCs plus will still have to pay expensive journal subscriptions) 10m cash injection. With APCs ,costs are weighted towards research intensive HEIs APC costs / other policies will end up dictating where researchers publish their findings UK is leading the way, but setting a target that is unreachable by other, poorer countries? Could an expansion of Green OA have provided a cost free, and attainable method, of increasing OA globally?

Whats your view at this point?

Does the Finch Report offer the right route to open access? What else, if anything, is needed?

HEFCE position
Have no preference for the means, as long as it happens. Driven by need to
maintain UKs strong research position Obtain VFM Improve access to outputs
UWE Repository http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk

HEFCE position
Best outcome will be achieved where change is driven by researcher need supported by policies for excellence.

UWE Repository http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk

RCUK Position
Preference is for the Gold route to OA as the best way to achieve a direct, quality assured item is via a publishers website. Mark Thorley, RCUK. 27th Sept. 2012
UWE Repository http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk

RCUK Policy, July 2012

Researchers from April 2013, must publish in journals which are compliant with Research Council policy on Open Access. Preferably gold, but green has its place. If a journal offers neither route it is not RCUK compliant, and research cannot be published there, regardless of relative prestige / appropriateness of journal title.
UWE Repository http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk

RCUK Policy, July 2012

Journals must provide immediate OA on their own website, and allow deposit in other repositories without restrictions on re-use. (requires payment of APC) OR If no OA on own website, must allow deposit of accepted manuscript inc. alterations after peer review into other repository. Max 6 month embargo period.
UWE Repository http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk

RCUK Policy, July 2012 Funding

RCUK will no longer allow for APC support via the funding application process. Payments will be made via block grants to HEIs as of April 2013.

UWE Repository http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk

The cost of APCs

Clarity needed over what APCs will be PLOS ONE $1350 (c840) PLOS Biology/Medicine $2600 (1620) Sliding scale depending on GDP, and fee waivers. 80 countries pay no APCs
UWE Repository http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk

Some questions for you

What do you think about OA publishing now? How do you think researchers can prepare for OA publishing? What would encourage more people to make their work available through open access?

Harvard University Library

In April 2012, HUL wrote to academics asking them not to publish in journals which keep articles behind pay walls, as the library can no longer afford the rising subscription costs of journals.

Harvard University Library

Make sure that all of your own papers are accessible Consider submitting articles to open-access journals; move prestige to open access Encourage colleagues to consider and to discuss options

Useful websites
http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/Pages/outputs.aspx http://www.hefce.ac.uk/news/newsarchive/2012/state mentonimplementingopenaccess/ http://www.researchinfonet.org/publish/finch/