UK BIS Committee Report on Open Access: recommending the green route

The BIS (Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee of the UK House of Commons) Committee calls on the Government  to reconsider its preference for Gold open access as expressed in the 2012 Finch Report.

The BIS Report, published on 10 September, recommends that:

• The Government promote standardisation and compliance across subject and institutional repositories
• RCUK strengthen the immediate deposit mandate in its original policy
• The Government and RCUK revise their policies to place an upper limit of 6 month embargoes on STEM subject research and up to 12 month embargoes for HASS subject research
• The Government mitigate against the impact on universities of paying Article Processing Charges (APCs) out of their own reserves
• If the preference for Gold is maintained, the Government and RCUK should amend their policies so that APCs are only paid to publishers of pure Gold rather than hybrid journals to eliminate the risk of double-dipping

Read the complete report:

BIS 5th report on Open Access – Vol 1

BIS 5th report on Open Access – Vol 2 (additional written evidence)

The Russell Group – representing 24 leading UK universities – welcomes the BIS Report on Open Access with its Director General’s statement:

“We welcome the committee’s report, which highlights the vital role that ‘green’ open access can play as the UK moves towards full open access.  We have always said we are committed to open access. But the committee rightly highlights that ‘green’ open access is a simple and cost-effective way of sharing research. We urge the Government to take note of the calls to reconsider its preference for ‘gold’ open access during the five year transition period.

“However, we have real reservations about the committee’s recommendation to restrict embargo periods to six months for STEM subjects and 12 months for humanities, arts and social sciences. This will directly limit where researchers can publish, will constrain academic freedom and could potentially damage the international standing of UK universities.”

More from the Russel Group on the BIS OA Report

Read the original comments from the Russel Group