The proliferation of open access content is not a big contributor to the cancellation of journal subscription, according to a survey of librarians undertaken by the U.K.-based Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP). The survey of 340 librarians, mostly based at academic institutions in the U.K. and the U.S., found that the availability of content via open access archives ranked far behind other factors in determining cancellations. The most important factor was...faculty no longer requiring the journal; declining usage and prohibitive price were the next most popular reasons for cancellation. However, a significant percentage (54) of respondents said that availability of open access archives is an important or a very important factor in determining cancellations now. Also, 81% think it will become important or very important in the next five years, according to the survey.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 3/30/2006 08:36:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
