Open Access News

News from the open access movement


Thursday, February 07, 2008

Australian working group will study OA for publicly-funded research

Science to better service the nation, Campus Review, undated but apparently today.  (Thanks to Colin Steele.)  Excerpt:

...The expert panel appointed [by Senator Kim Carr, Australia's Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research] to spearhead [Australia’s National Innovation System Review ] is expected to produce an issues paper as early as next month. It will be followed by a series of workshops across Australia in April and May before a green paper emerges in July.

Open access to publicly funded research...[is] among the ideas already flagged by stakeholders.

Carr said three working groups were being established...[one of which will] examine publicly funded research and the CRC [Cooperative Research Centres] program....

Professor Brian Fitzgerald, whose work at the Queensland University of Technology focuses on the legal aspects of open access, said he hoped the review would consider the notion of free and easy access to research findings as a driver of innovation and productivity.

“Whether it’s climate change, water management or indigenous health, if we can get more knowledge out there and researchers have more access, we might come up with solutions that we never dreamed about before,” he said....

Carr said he was already working toward an overarching statement or policy on open access....