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Scientific Publications: Free for all?

: On that basis, the hon. Gentleman is rapidly moving the debate towards a consensus, because I agree that there should be a variety of models. However, I do not agree that one new model should be imposed on top of the old one or that the Government should somehow have to intervene to ensure that the new model gains ground; the market in scientific research will do that, and I shall explain later how I think that that will happen. As I said earlier, if we are to understand the importance of scientific research publishing in the United Kingdom, it is important to realise that this country publishes about half of all commercial journals, about 5,000 in all. It is also important to understand that there has been huge growth in the scientific publishing industry in the past few years, which means that much more scientific research is available to many more people. For example, the average library stocks 6,500 titles, as opposed to 4,000 just a decade ago, in the mid-1990s. The average number of articles read by academic researchers has increased from about 150 a year to well over 200 a year today. City university commissioned a survey of 4,000 academics in 97 countries, and I am sure that hon. Members are fully aware of it. Three quarters of the academics who responded said that they had better access to journals than they did five years ago. According to a briefing that I have seen from Reed Elsevier, 90 per cent. of UK researchers now have access to 100 per cent. of its journals. Just 5 million Reed Elsevier articles were downloaded in 2001, but 25 million are now downloaded every year. My first assertion, therefore, is that, far from declining, access to scientific research is actually increasing. Furthermore, commercial and not-for-profit companies recognise their responsibilities to the developing world, and I am sure that the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon will have more to say on that. Many companies work through schemes such as the programme for the enhancement of research information and with organisations such as the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications, the Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative and Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture to provide free or low-cost access to journals. If none of that work were being done, the moral case for open access would be far stronger. However, I have been to CABI and seen the CD-ROMs that it produces and makes available at very low cost to the developing world. They are extremely useful to not only academic researchers, but farmers growing crops in the third world. We should recognise the commitment that scientific publishers are making to the developing world. Overall, therefore, publishers are doubling access to scientific journals every year, the cost per head of using articles is falling, the cost of subscriptions is falling and publishers are increasing output. However, they are not profiteering, because their profit margins remain broadly the same. On the moral point that all research is funded by the Government and should therefore be free, I have seen a briefing document from Reed Elsevier saying that €89 million a year is paid in subscriptions, but only €2.7 million a year relates directly to research published on the basis of Government research, about 3 per cent. of the total.