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Research Active The Newsletter of University of Kent Research Services, Vol 7 Issue 2, Feb 2013
ACCESS
OPEN
In June last year Dame Janet Finch published her report on ‘Accessibility, Sustainability, Excellence: How to Expand Access to Research Publications’. Whilst the title may sound like a familiar jumble of aspirational labels, the report itself will have a real and fundamental effect on academic publishing. Its main recommendation was that
‘a clear policy direction should be set towards support for publication in open access or hybrid journals...as the main vehicle for the publication of research, especially when it is publicly funded’.
The Government accepted all the conclusions of the report, and since the summer has been grappling with how best to implement them.
Notes from OA Forum Over fifty members of staff gathered in the Senate Chamber on 15 January to discuss issues around the new policy. The VC, Prof Dame Julia Goodfellow, opened the Forum by making clear that ‘the direction of travel
Thus, the Research Councils have stated that, from 1 April 2013
‘papers which result from research that is wholly or partially funded by the Research Councils...must be published in journals which are compliant with Research Council policy on Open Access.’ The preferred route for publication is ‘Gold’ OA rather than ‘Green’ (see box, right). Some block funding will be made available for the cost of this, but this policy has wider implications for the way that knowledge is shared, and for the future of academic publication. Over the next few months Research Services will work with Information Services, the Graduate School and academics to develop a policy to support, protect and promote Kent staff in this new landscape.
has been set for us, it is for us to discuss the best way to respond.’ A number of concerns were raised, including: The effect of OA on learned societies; The cost of implementing OA; The mechanism for distributing block funding at the University; The need to protect intellectual property; The fact that many of the most prestigious (US) journals don’t
GOLD vs GREEN? The terminology surrounding OA can be confusing. There are basically two forms of OA publishing: Gold and Green. GOLD open access is publication, either through an OA journal, or a standard journal that allows free access to any articles. Some journals may demand an ‘article processing charge’ (APC). The block grant referred to in the main article is intended to off set these APCs. GREEN open access is selfarchiving, in institutional repositories such as KAR, or international ones such as PubMed, following publication elsewhere.
INSIDE THIS EDITION In Committee REF Update ECR Network Overview of Funding New Awards Changes to VAT Equipment Sharing Welcome to New Staff NIHR Information Day Notes from Grants Factory Choice Cuts from the Blog
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allow OA; differences in academic publishing are not accounted for in the government’s policy.
The
Despite these reservations the audience was, in principle, supportive of ‘green’ OA, but were cautious until the detail was confirmed. It was agreed that a working group develop a University policy for OA, and consult widely on its proposals.
ResearchActive is edited by Phil Ward. Contact him for more information or clarification on any of the items in this edition. In addition, 1 for the latest from the world of research funding, go to fundermental.blogspot.com, or Twitter @unikentresearch & @frootle