---

Scientific Publications: Free for all?

: Having got into the whole subject late, and having read the evidence that has been made available, I am more and more confused about why the Government responded as they did. They failed to address the report's core recommendations, but they also failed to seize the opportunity to consider the wider issues such as publishing and the way in which universities gain access to information. I was particularly concerned about the way in which the repositories issue was swept under the table, as dealing with it would have addressed many of the issues that the hon. Gentleman has just mentioned. In their next response, the Government denied seeking to neutralise the views of JISC, as we would expect. Again, the response referred to not wanting to force a premature transition to an author pays model, as if that was what was being asked for in the first place. The recommendation was actively to explore the possibility of a new model by gathering and analysing evidence, not to express immediate support. The Government did, however, undertake to consider all the evidence as it became available, including the results of some experiments and initiatives that are currently under way. That is a welcome commitment to evidence-based policy making. We will see what it means in practice when the Minister responds later this afternoon. Although the Government were unwilling to make any commitment to open access publishing, other key players were responding to what they saw as a very important issue. In November 2004, the Wellcome Trust announced a new policy and a significant step towards an open access environment. It plans to establish UK PubMed Central, a new repository for biomedical research similar to the existing PubMed Central in the United States. The process of establishment will begin early next year. Under the new policy, researchers funded by Wellcome are required from 1 October 2005 to deposit an electronic copy of their peer-reviewed articles that are accepted for publication in PubMed Central, which will be UK PubMed Central when it is established, within six months of publication. The trust will fund all costs associated with that move. In February 2005, the National Institutes of Health in the US announced a new policy, under which their funded researchers will have to deposit a copy of all their published papers on a central archive that is managed by the National Library of Medicine within 12 months of publication. A recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development study found evidence of a shift towards direct access to primary data sources that was having a significant impact on scientific publishers, many of whom have invested heavily in online publishing. The study anticipated a period of experimentation using different types of open access models, but concluded that national and international co-ordination was required to broaden access to data from publicly funded research and to contribute to the advancement of scientific research and innovation. In short, the open access movement is progressing and is fast becoming a serious option in the field of scientific publications. Unsurprisingly, a slightly different picture emerges if one talks to the publishers. Reed Elsevier, the largest scientific publisher in the UK, which publishes more than 1,800 journals and 2,200 new books each year, claims that the number of new open access journals peaked in 2001 and has since declined. It described 41 per cent. of them as loss-making; it must have been talking to Lord Sainsbury, because he told the Committee exactly the same thing on 19 October, when he said that"““we have seen a peak in the enthusiasm for open access publishing and a fall-off in people putting forward proposals for it””." It is not clear what he means by a peak. Does he mean that the number of open-access journals is declining or simply that the rate of increase has slowed since 2001? I should be grateful if the Minister addressed this specific issue. Do the Government still believe that open access publishing is in decline or is it on the increase? The publishers raise a serious point, which needs to be addressed; is there a need to duplicate what already exists? They have taken steps to improve access to their own publications, and several pilots are already running. For example, CrossRef, is running a pilot involving 45 publishers, in partnership with Google, to determine the value to the scholarly community of a free inter-disciplinary, inter-publisher search of peer-reviewed scholarly literature. Publishers would argue that access is not a problem. Reed Elsevier says that 90 per cent. of all UK researchers now have access to more than 95 per cent. of its articles, although only if they subscribe, and they will not get access otherwise. There is no doubt that publishers are investing considerable sums in improving the accessibility of their material and maintaining it on a database. In that respect, there are real questions for the Minister to answer. Should public money be spent on establishing a similar facility through institutional repositories? Is he concerned about duplication? The evolution of open access is taking place almost as we speak. I am sure that this is pure coincidence, but it was announced only this morning that three major publishers—Blackwell, Oxford University Press and Springer—will ensure that research published in their journals is immediately made available online without charge to the reader. The costs are being met by research funding bodies. That seems a significant development, and I hope that the Minister will comment on it. Does he stick to the Science Minister's view that the open access movement has peaked or does he see such moves by publishers as evidence of a growing trend? If so, what are the implications for Government policy? At what point do the Government embrace the new model and plan accordingly? Of course, the most significant player in determining a shift in thinking on open access is RCUK, which has been consulting on the issue since the summer. Under its proposal, researchers would be allowed to continue choosing where best to publish their research. However, the RCUK proposal would also introduce a requirement that"““subject to copyright and licensing arrangements, a copy of any resultant published journal articles or conference proceedings should be deposited in an appropriate e-print repository . . . wherever such a repository is available to the award-holder.””" Even the most ardent open access supporter would agree that there might be different time lags for different disciplines, but the need for access to the latest research in mediaeval history is not quite as acute as it is in the field of, say, genetics. The RCUK's proposal also states that councils would agree to applicants including the predicted costs of publishing in an author pays journal in their grant applications, subject to the justification of cost-effectiveness. That could be a significant development, although I say ““could”” because it is unclear whether the RCUK remains supportive of that proposal. RCUK's proposal would affect the 15,000 academics who are in receipt of a research council grant at any one time and whose work represents 60 per cent. of research findings in the UK. It also goes a long way towards implementing the recommendations in the Select Committee's original report. Importantly, it is also supported in broad terms by Universities UK, although that body, too, flags up one or two issues that need resolving. However, it has to be accepted that if the research councils are going to pay for researchers who want to publish in author pays journals, a considerable shift will have to take place because money that would normally go towards research will be going towards publication costs instead. Can the Minister tell us whether that is still envisaged? If so, what would he regard as the consequences for research council budgets?