1. Two Cheers for Open Access? How are we doing and where do we go next? Phil Sykes University Librarian October 2013

2. Two Cheers for Open Access? I will: Cover some of the basic ideas/approaches Survey the recent history Try to take stock of progress

3. Two Cheers for Open Access? What does it do? Makes research outputs free at the point of use What problems is it intended to address? Problem of inaccessibility Problem of high prices

4. Different types of Open Access Green – Items are made available on a repository Gold – A fee is paid to a publisher The Green/Gold distinction often leads to fuzzy thinking! Consider also thinking in terms of: Distinction between instant and delayed access Distinction between nominal and meaningful open access

5. Recent History Open Access took off about the turn of the century According to Laaslo and Bjork, about 2.7% of articles were going in to institutional repositories by 2010 Some universities more successful than most, including Southampton and UCL Labour administration was hostile to open Access. Changed with appointment of David Willetts

6. Recent History Universities Minister convened meeting in March 2011. Question was not “whether” Open Access, but “when and how” Finch Group established. Finch recommended that funding should be found to stimulate Open Access Finch criticised for being lukewarm about Green Open Access and an insufficiently robust approach to publishers

7. Recent History After Finch, Research Councils UK promulgated a policy very quickly RCUK policy changed after pressure from government which resulted from lobbying by publishers Many inferred from initial wording that 100% of RCUK- funded outputs had to be published on a gold OA basis: panic among finance directors!. Actual requirement is 45% this year. HEFCE played a cannier game, but their draft policy is radical and a game-changer

8. So: where are we now? We should be pleased with the progress we’ve made with Open Access. RCUK policy means that many important journal articles/conference proceedings will become OA UCL particularly noteworthy for supplementing government funding from its own resources

9. Some mistakes along the way Problems with early presentation of RCUK policy Open Access evangelists sometimes naïve about perceptions and insensitive to disciplinary differences BUT Open Access now part of the zeitgeist

10. Three cheers for Open Access? Maybe not. Some real threats to deal with: Real danger that Green with long embargo periods will emerge as a compromise in all disciplines: triumph of nominal over meaningful open access Danger of “Double-dipping” with Gold Open Access. Publishers may exaggerate the costs of the transition to OA to boost income. JISC Collections and Research Libraries UK will respond robustly. Danger of Disneyland Open Access

11. Two Cheers for Open Access! “Two cheers are quite enough: there is no occasion to give three” [Not yet anyway]