Report Recommends U.K. “Lead the Way” in Open Access
A long-awaited report from the British House of Commons Science and Technology Committee makes strong recommendations regarding access to and the preservation of scientific information for the research community. Titled "Scientific Publications: Free for All?,” the report urges the U.K. government to move rapidly to ensure that the financial benefits from its "substantial investment in research" are not "diverted to an excessive degree into the pockets of publishers’ shareholders." The report recommends that "all U.K. higher education institutions establish institutional repositories on which their published output can be stored and from which it can be read, free of charge, online. It also recommends that Research Councils and other Government funders mandate their funded researchers to deposit a copy of all of their articles in this way." The report calls on the government to appoint a central body to oversee the implementation of the repositories and Committee Chair Ian Gibson adds that he sees the British Library taking a major role in coordinating electronic archiving:
"The preservation of digital material is an expensive process that poses a significant technical challenge. This report recommends that the British Library receives sufficient funding to enable it to carry out this work. It also recommends that work on new regulations for the legal deposit of non-print publications begins immediately. Failure to take these steps would result in a substantial breach in the intellectual record of the U.K.," says Gibson. (Open Access Now 2 Aug 2004, http://www.biomedcentral.com/openaccess/archive/?page=features&issue=19>
British House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Report, “Scientific Publications: Free for All?”: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmsctech/399/399.pdf
