PRESS RELEASE: 17 JULY 2012
STM WELCOMES UK GOVERNMENT ENDORSEMENT OF FINCH REPORT
STM welcomes the UK Government’s support for the recommendations in the Finch Access Group Report, as detailed by Minister David Willetts’ letter published yesterday. http://news.bis.gov.uk/Press-Releases/Government-to-open-up-publicly-funded-research-67d1d.aspx Although resolution of the VAT issue for electronic products must be referred to the EU level, the UK Science Minister has clearly indicated the Government’s backing for the balanced package of measures commended by STM
in its comments on the Report. http://www.stm-assoc.org/2012_06_18_STM_Press_Release_on_Finch_Report.pdf
We particularly welcome the UK Government’s adoption of Finch’s conclusions about Green Open Access embargo periods and the recognition that Green Open Access has no business model to support the publications on which it crucially depends. As Willetts writes: “Where APC [Article Processing Charge] funds are not available to the publisher or learned society, for the publication of publicly-funded research, then publishers could reasonably insist on a longer more equitable embargo period. This could be up to 12 months for science, technology and engineering publications and longer for publications in those disciplines which require more time to secure payback.”
STM shares the same concerns voiced by the UK Publishers Association regarding the lack of funding of licence extensions and how the UK Research Councils will implement the Finch package of proposals. http://www.publishers.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2285:the-pa-welcomes-a-clear-uk-government-policy-on-access-to-research-publications&catid=503:pa-press-releases-and-comments&Itemid=1618
Further work will be required to turn these policy recommendations into practical outcomes; STM publishers look forward to working with all parties in the UK to achieve these.
ENDS
STM is an international association of over 120 scientific, technical, medical and scholarly publishers, collectively responsible for more than 60% of the global annual output of research articles, 55% of the active research journals and the publication of tens of thousands of print and electronic books, reference works and databases. We are the only international trade association equally representing all types of STM publishers – large and small companies, not for profit organizations, learned societies, traditional, primary, secondary publishers and new entrants to global publishing.
http://www.stm-assoc.org
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