See Richard Wray, Government 'obstructs science access', The Guardian, November 8, 2004. Excerpt: "A committee of MPs has blasted as "obstructive" the government's response to its recent call for scientific research to be made more freely available to the general public....MPs on the committee believe the Department of Trade and Industry - which compiled the government response published today - has clearly tried to 'neutralise' the views put forward during hearings over the summer by other departments and academic experts. The committee chairman, Ian Gibson, said: 'The DTI is apparently more interested in kowtowing to the powerful publishing lobby than it is in looking after the best interests of British science.' The committee believes that a 'very positive' response to the committee's report, published in July by the joint information systems committee (JISC), an expert advisory body funded indirectly by the Department for Education and Skills, was 'watered down' following negotiations with the DTI."
Also see Saeed Shah, Anger as ministers block science publishing shake-up, The Independent, November 8, 2004. Excerpt: "A powerful committee of MPs will accuse the Government today of suppressing the views of its own advisers and "kowtowing" to the interests of the publishing industry by blocking a new system that would make the results of scientific research freely available....In a highly unusual move, MPs on the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee allege that the Government interfered with the work of its own experts, who sit on an independent body called the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and were initially positive about the new 'open access' publishing model....Ian Gibson, chairman of the committee, said he was 'pretty angry' and vowed that 'all hell will be let loose' when Parliament gets a chance to debate the matter. 'This is a really serious political battle. It is between what's best for the [publishing] industry and what's best for the public,' he said....The DTI told the science committee: 'In a market in which different organisations are competing to provide services to the academic community, the Government does not think it should intervene to support one model or another. The Government is also not convinced that the 'author-pays' model is inherently superior to the current model. Consequently, the Government's approach is to facilitate a level playing field so the market can develop without any institutional barriers being put in the way of any particular publishing model.'...Dr Gibson said: 'The Government is just supporting the industry. There is a collusion going on somewhere which is unhealthy. The publishers are very successful. They make money at the expense of public organisations such as libraries. The DTI is apparently more interested in kowtowing to the powerful publishing lobby than it is in looking after the best interests of British science. This isn't evidence-based policy, it's policy-based evidence.' "
(PS: I'll post updates as I can. However, I'm at a conference all day today and may not be able to catch up until tomorrow.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 11/08/2004 08:20:00 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.
