ARMA International: The Association for Information Management Professionals - Legal/Regulatory Issues: Policy Brief: International Policy Brief

Scientific Publishers Worried About Open Access

Europe’s scientific publishers are concerned that the European Commission's (EC) plans to support online open access to scientific information will undermine their businesses.

Last year, a study was released on the European scientific publishing market. It provided analysis of the market and made a series of policy recommendations, which were welcomed by the scientific community but criticised by the publishing industry, according to a Euractive.com report.

The controversy over open access – a recent trend that aims to ensure immediate, free Internet access to research publications – has resulted in publishers forcing authors to pay for the publication to allow free online access to readers, thus shifting publishing costs from reader to author.

According to Euractive.com, about 200 organisations (universities, research institutions, funding agencies, foundations, libraries, museums, archives) worldwide signed the 2003 Berlin Declaration, which initiated the open-access movement. The declaration states that "our mission of disseminating knowledge is only half complete if the information is not made widely and readily available to society."

On 14 February, the EC adopted a Communication on Scientific Information in the Digital Age: Access, Dissemination and Preservation, which addresses the functioning of the scientific publication system and its impact on research. It also provides an overview of the current state of scientific publishing and the preservation of research results in Europe, including organisational, legal, technical, and financial issues.

The communication also announces a series of measures planned at the EU level, including support for new ways of promoting better access to scientific information online and preservation of research results digitally for future generations. It also explains how the EC will handle open access in the projects it will fund under its seventh framework programme for research.

Research Commissioner Janez Potočnik said he is aware of ongoing open access discussions between scientific publishers and the scientific community, according to Euractive.com, but the EC believes that increased access to scientific information will lead to more research activities and increased publishing activity, thus strengthening the European Research Area.

The main challenge, the EC stated, is finding a win-win situation for both scientists and scientific publishers. This means giving the research community rapid and wide dissemination of results facilitated by new information and communication technologies and giving scientific publishers fair remuneration for investing in tools and mechanisms to organise the information flows and the peer review system, Euractive.com reported.

The International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (STM) issued a joint declaration stressing the role that specialist publishers play in supporting Europe’s research community and ensuring the integrity of scientific research. "Publishers organise, manage, and financially support the peer review processes of STM journals,” the group said in a statement. “Peer reviewed journals play an irreplaceable role in authenticating articles through registration, certification, dissemination and editorial improvement."

According to Euractive.com, the association said it welcomes the EC’s interest in improving access to and preservation of scientific information; however, it said the EC’s recently issued Communication on Scientific Information in the Digital Age does not make clear why government intervention is needed and risks promoting one business model over another.
“Nobody will benefit if a major European industry is undermined and with it the peer review system upon which science and society depend," Michael Mabe, STM CEO told Euractive.com.

For more information:

ARMA International International Policy Brief, March 2007