From: Ann Shumelda Okerson <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2012 18:18:55 -0400

For those who may not have seen, and with thanks to Gary Price
(InfoDocket).  Ann Okerson

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From The Guardian:

"The government is to unveil controversial plans to make publicly
funded scientific research immediately available for anyone to read
for free by 2014, in the most radical shakeup of academic publishing
since the invention of the internet.

Under the scheme, research papers that describe work paid for by the
British taxpayer will be free online for universities, companies and
individuals to use for any purpose, wherever they are in the world.

In an interview with the Guardian before Monday’s announcement David
Willetts, the universities and science minister, said he expected a
full transformation to the open approach over the next two years.

[Clip]

Though many academics will welcome the announcement, some scientists
contacted by the Guardian were dismayed that the cost of the
transition, which could reach £50m a year, must be covered by the
existing science budget and that no new money would be found to fund
the process. That could lead to less research and fewer valuable
papers being published.

British universities now pay around 200m pounds/year a year in
subscription fees to journal publishers, but under the new scheme,
authors will pay “article processing charges” (APCs) to have their
papers peer reviewed, edited and made freely available online. The
typical APC is around 2,000 pounds per article."

Read the Complete Article:

http://www.infodocket.com/2012/07/15/open-access-free-access-to-british-scientific-research-to-be-available-within-two-years/

Gary D. Price, MLIS
Co-Founder and Editor, Library Journal's INFOdocket.com
Co-Founder and Editor, FullTextReports.com
Information Industry Analyst
Librarian
http://INFOdocket.com
http://FullTextReports.com