From: Kathleen Shearer <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 10 May 2016 12:30:48 -0400

(sorry for the cross posting)

Joint COAR-UNESCO Statement on Open Access

Open access is a global trend, with policies and practices rapidly
being adopted around the world. As the world enters a new era of
sustainable development, openness and inclusiveness in scientific
research will become increasingly critical. While most governments
agree on the underlying principles of open access, there is
significant diversity in the way countries have approached its
implementation. These differences reflect a range of perspectives,
values, and priorities of the different regions. Clearly, there is no
“one-size-fits-all” solution to implementing open access.

It is imperative that governments and the research community encourage
a variety of approaches to the implementation of OA. This will result
in a healthier and more innovative ecosystem for scholarly publishing,
and ultimately lead to greater use and impact of research.

Some organizations are promoting a large-scale shift from
subscriptions to open access via article processing charges (APC’s).
However, there are a number of issues that need to be addressed in
this model:

Consider institutions with smaller budgets and developing countries.
Authors will be unable to publish once limited funds have been
exhausted. Such a system will need to support researchers who cannot
pay APCs – to avoid further skewing a scholarly publishing system that
is already biased against the research undertaken in certain
disciplines and countries.

Avoid further concentration in the international publishing industry.
A flip to APCs will further consolidate the large-scale monopoly of
the international publishing industry. In the current system, the five
largest publishers publish over 50% of the research papers produced.
A mere shift towards the pay-to-publish model will institutionalize
the influence of these companies, and discourage new entrants and
models other than APC models.

Explore ways to reduce costs. Recent studies indicate that, at current
APC costs, there would be a buffer of minimum 40% when subscriptions
would be transferred to an open access model. New models should build
in mechanisms that ensure cost reductions.(2) Globally, we are already
paying billions of Euros/Dollars per year on subscription access to
journals. Simply shifting payments to support APCs may lead to higher
systemic costs, curb innovation, and inhibit the scholarly community’s
ability to take advantage of new models and tools.

There are numerous high quality and economically viable journals that
do not rely on APCs. Additionally, while journals play an important
role, repositories have been established around the world and they
represent the primary mechanisms for implementing open access in the
vast majority of countries. Individual repositories are linked via
national and regional discovery services like OpenAIRE and LA
Referencia, and regional services are entering into agreements about
data exchange that will ensure truly international and cost-effective
coverage of publication output, and support the development of
innovative, value added services on top of the global network.

As noted in UNESCO’s World Science Report, “The creation and transfer
of scientific knowledge are critical to building and sustaining
socio-economic welfare and integration in the global economy. In the
long run, no region or nation can remain a simple ‘user’ of new
knowledge but must also become a ‘creator’ of new knowledge.”(3) A
large-scale continental shift towards a pay to publish model in Europe
may have significant unintended consequences for both Europe and
elsewhere by impeding global participation in the system and
contribute to a more consolidated and costly scholarly publishing
system.

The full text available here:
http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/news/coar_unesco_oa_statement.pdf
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For more information, please contact:

Kathleen Shearer
Executive Director, Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR)
[log in to unmask]
Skype: kathleen.shearer2 - twitter: @KathleeShearer