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Scientific Publications: Free for all?

: The hon. Gentleman has a low estimation of how desperate some people are to get in to print. In the Government's view, flexible copyright arrangements are part of the basis of competitiveness on which publishers market their journals. Publishers, both commercial and not for profit, use flexible copyright arrangements to compete for the services of authors. Model licences are available through trade associations representing the scientific, technological and medical sector, including the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers, which represents the not-for-profit sector, and the Publishers Association, which represents commercial publishers. In 2004, trade associations covering both commercial and non-commercial publishers jointly drafted a statement of practices and principles relating to the publication of primary research supported by public funding within a learned journal. The Government welcome such efforts by publishers to identify a consistent approach to copyright agreements. As we stated in our response to the Select Committee, we believe that the data underpinning the results of publicly funded research should be made available as widely and rapidly as possible along with the results. We also acknowledge that effective research depends upon researchers having access to the results and findings of their colleagues in the research community. We have no difficulty with that in principle. The archiving and preservation of scientific information for future generations is important. The Government recognise the potential benefits of institutional repositories and see them as a significant development worthy of encouragement, but they believe that each institution has to make its own decision about institutional repositories depending on its circumstances. Institutional repositories and journals need to run in parallel to ensure that rigorous peer review of research findings is not compromised. Peer review is crucial for quality control, whether in print or electronic format, and whether using the author pays or subscription approach.