Funded by STM, and prepared by Mark Ware Consulting and STM, ‘The STM
Report’ collects the available evidence, and provides a comprehensive picture of
the trends and currents in scholarly communication. It shows that scholarly
communications are undergoing profound changes driven by technology and
economic factors, while authors’ core motivations to publish remain stable. ...
Continued growth in output, particularly from China and East Asia, will put
further pressure on the system, especially when combined with funders’ desire
for greater return on research investments and the pressures on researchers to
accelerate the research cycle. ...
The ‘STM Report’ also shows that the debate over business models and access to
information paradoxically occurs at a time when access to literature has never
been wider nor cost per download lower. Within this maturing debate, there
remains an increased interest on an evidence-based approach to these various
business models. ...
Comment. It's only paradoxical if one ignores the context. The debates about access are provoked by new technologies (the opening lines of the Budapest Open Access Initiative make that clear). Independent of the debate, publishers have adopted some of those technologies in ways that improve access. Publishers have also responded to the debate, in part, by improving access. Those actions, in turn, prompt further debate. For instance, the existence of HINARI doesn't merely silence debate about access to health research in developing countries; it also prompts the question, "Is HINARI enough?"
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.
