From: "Ellis, Jennifer" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 13:50:52 +0000

January 2014 saw President Obama sign the Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2014 into law in the United States, requiring federal agencies
with research and development budgets exceeding $100 million per year
to develop public access policies. Whilst this has only been law for a
relatively short period of time there has been much discussion on its
implications, adding to a vocal movement that has been arguing for
better access to publicly funded research for many years. But do
researchers understand how it affects them, and what they need to do
to comply?

As part of a wider survey on Open Access carried out in March 2014,
Taylor & Francis asked authors a series of questions on this issue,
the findings of which have just been published at:

http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/explore/Open-Access-Survey-2014-Annex-A.pdf

Just under 2,500 US-based authors responded (31% of the total
respondents globally), and their answers showed that, whilst levels of
awareness were relatively low (at 32%), authors felt generally
positive about the Act and its benefits for them. Across all
disciplines most agreed that publishing under this public access
policy would enable their work to be read by more people (62%) and
reach those outside the authors’ field more easily (53%). Almost half
of authors agreed that this would lead to more citations of their work
(47%) and increase its impact (45%).

The survey results raise interesting questions on the communication
and education required when governments issue legislation on access to
research, and how information reaches individual researchers.  Whilst
awareness may be relatively low at this point (just months after the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014) how much will this have
increased in a year’s time, as agencies formalize their policies,
researchers get to grips with what this means for them, and they start
to see the benefits for their research?

You can now read the complete country level analysis at:

http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/explore/Open-Access-Survey-2014-Annex-A.pdf

with the full survey results at:

http://www.tandfonline.com/page/openaccess/opensurvey/2014

Plus, tell us what you think via Twitter @TandFOpen and follow the
conversation at #oasurvey2014.


Best wishes,

Elaine Devine, Communications Manager (Author Relations)
Taylor & Francis
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