The SOAP Symposium.

Study of Open Access Publishing. What publishers offer, what researchers want.

Facts for publishers, funding agencies and libraries.


The SOAP project (Study of Open Access Publishing http://soap-fp7.eu),  
describes and analyses the open access publishing landscape as well as  
exploring the risks and opportunities of the transition to open access  
publishing for libraries, publishers and funding agencies. The project  
partners would like to invite you to the SOAP Symposium

on January 13th, 2010 in Berlin, at the Harnack House (the day after  
the APE2011 conference)

Attendance is free but registration is mandatory at  
http://indico.cern.ch/event/soap-symposium

This event will present the final results of SOAP. Definitive facts  
about open access publishing with in-depth analysis will foster a  
lively debate between key stakeholders who will elaborate on these  
groundbreaking findings.

The audience for this event are publishers (open access and not)  
(re-)considering their business models, libraries considering  
financial steps for the support of open access, funding agencies and  
policy makers evaluating options for open access publishing. And of  
course anyone with a keen interest in this transformative disruption  
in scholarly communication.

Over its two-years duration, the project has performed the most  
detailed study so far of the current supply and success of gold open  
access journals, publishers and models, spotlighting the amazing  
difference between large and small publishing houses and learned  
societies, licensing practices and business models. (A summary of  
results is available at  http://arxiv.org/abs/1010.0506).

The project performed a comprehensive survey of opinions and attitudes  
on open access of 50000 researchers across all disciplines and around  
the world. This largest survey to date shows that "one size does not  
fit all", and there is a myriad factors that libraries, publishers and  
funding agencies have to consider to trace a path through these  
shifting sands (Preliminary results were presented at COASP 2010:  
http://www.slideshare.net/projectSoap/first-results-of-the-soap-projects).

By the time of the workshop, the ?demand? for open access publishing  
and the ?supply? will have been further analysed with further input  
from leaders in the field, presenting a picture of open access, and  
well established facts, on which to base decisions shaping the  
scholarly communication of the future.

The event will also celebrate the release in the public domain of the  
data collected by the SOAP survey, with a hands-on workshop for those  
interested in mining this valuable resource for further re-use.

Note: The project is funded by the European Commission and comprises  
publishers (BioMed Central, SAGE Publication Ltd., Springer Science  
and Business Media), research institutions (CERN - European  
Organization for Nuclear Research, Max Planck Society) and funding  
agencies (STFC - Science & Technology Facilities Council UK).

On behalf of the SOAP consortium,

Panayiota Polydoratou