A report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has outlined a number of policies and initiatives which, it says, could enhance the digital delivery of scientific and technical information....While the report notes that the scientific publishing industry has taken a lead in the digital delivery of content (with an estimated 75 per cent of scholarly journals available online in 2003), it also recognises that certain advances in digital technology could conflict with some existing business practices and models. 'The key issue is whether there are new opportunities for science communication systems to better serve researchers [and] communicate and disseminate research findings to users,' say the authors....After analysing the three main emerging digital delivery business models -aggregated journal content paid for by the subscriber (the 'Big Deal'), author-paid open access publishing, and open access institutional archives and repositories - the report says that in the immediate future there is likely to be 'a period of experimentation around the 'author pays' version of open access publishing, combined with the emergence of a range of hybrids based around mixes of subscription-based and different forms of open access.' However, it goes on to predict that any changes in the current system of research journals and peer review will depend on factors such as the changing needs of researchers and the impacts of eScience, the opportunities offered by rapidly developing ICTs, and the underlying economic characteristics of information. Nonetheless, there may be opportunities to develop new systems that serve researchers, research users and research funders more effectively, and which increase returns on R&D investment and enhance innovation, and the report identifies a number of areas where governments and other stakeholders can help to maximise such opportunities. For example, it stresses that: 'Access to public and government-funded research content is a crucial issue, and there is considerable potential for governments to provide a lead in enabling digital delivery and enhanced access to publicly funded scientific and technical information.'
Posted by
Peter Suber at 9/26/2005 08:23:00 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.
