UK: Open Access is the Future of Academic Publishing, Says Finch Report + Roundup of Reaction

Direct to Full Text of Finch Report (140 pages; PDF)

Direct to Executive Summary of Finch Report (11 pages; PDF)

From the News Release:

The report of the Working Group chaired by Dame Janet Finch published on 18 June recommends a programme of action to enable more people to read and use the publications arising from research. Better, faster communication of research results will bring benefits for public services and for economic growth. It will also bring improved efficiency for researchers, and opportunities for more public engagement with research. The full report is available for downloading below, along with an executive summary.
The internet has brought much better access to research results for members of the academic community. But the full benefits of the digital and online revolutions have yet to be realised, especially for business, the professions, and the general public. Many people have expressed the ambition for a worldwide open access regime. The key policy questions are how to promote that shift in an ordered way which promotes innovation and maximises the benefits while minimising the risks.
The report recommends actions which can be taken in the UK which would help to promote much greater and faster access, while recognising that research and publications are international. It envisages that several different channels for communicating research results will remain important over the next few years, but recommends a clear policy direction in the UK towards support for open access publishing. This means that publishers receive their revenues from authors rather than readers, and so research articles become freely accessible to everyone immediately upon publication.
At the same time, the report recommends extensions to current licensing arrangements in the higher education, health and other sectors; and it welcomes recent moves by publishers to provide access to the great majority of journals in public libraries.

Reaction

The Publishers Association comments on release of the Finch report on how to expand access to research publications
STM Welcomes Report of the Finch Group into Expanding Access to Research Publications in the UK
JISC response to the Finch report
Wellcome Trust responds to Finch Report on open access
RLUK Reaction to ‘Finch Report’
AIP Sees Value in Encouraging Stakeholder Collaboration in Publishing

Coverage

Report calls on government to back open access science (via BBC)
Open access is the future of academic publishing, says Finch report (via The Guardian)
More flexible funding needed for OA, says Finch (via The Bookseller)
 
 

Filed under: Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Funding, Libraries, News, Open Access, Public Libraries, Publishing, Roundup