From: Nicola Swann <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2012 11:20:43 +0100

Press Release Tuesday 19 June 2012

THE PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION WELCOMES FINCH REPORT ON EXPANDING ACCESS
TO PUBLISHED RESEARCH FINDINGS

London, 19 June 2012 – The Publishers Association (The PA) warmly
welcomes and supports the ‘balanced package’ of recommendations for
extending access to research outputs within the UK that are set out in
the Finch report released today.

We feel confident in confirming that the industry we represent will
endorse and work to implement the recommendations of Finch as a
balanced package of measures to extend access. Practical outcomes will
include: setting up workflows for the APCs (article publishing
charges) that will fund so-called Gold Open Access (OA) (whereby
publishing is paid for by the author or funding body); extending
existing licences for the universities, research institutes and the
health sector; enabling free walk-in access via the public libraries
network; supporting authors with their manuscript deposit mandates.

Critical to the ‘balance’ in the package from the publisher
perspective will be: that sufficient funds are available via the
research councils, the funding councils and the universities to fund
Gold OA APCs for UK researchers, and that the budgetary workflows are
in place to deliver these to their publishers; a commitment from the
research funders not to require manuscript-posting embargo periods of
less than 12 months when dedicated funding to support Gold OA
publishing costs is not provided; and good faith in negotiating
licence extensions in those sectors (primarily the universities and
health sectors) that already enjoy good access.

The Finch recommendations represent an opportunity not only to extend
access to research outputs globally for the benefit of UK research and
UK researchers, but also to do so through active collaboration between
stakeholders with different needs and perspectives, but convergent
objectives.

The PA and the publishers we represent stand ready to endorse and to
implement the Finch balanced package and we invite our colleagues and
fellow stakeholders to join us in the spirit of collaboration that has
characterised the Finch group deliberations, for the benefit of our
common purpose: the further progress of world leading UK research, and
the globally recognised researchers who deliver it.

Richard Mollet, CEO of The Publisher’s Association, added: “The Finch
review has been a constructive exercise in terms of bringing a
forensic analysis to a complicated area of public policy and achieving
a consensus across different stakeholders as to a sustainable path to
progress. We wish to extend our thanks to Dame Janet Finch, the review
team, and of course all of the members of the Group for the positive
and valuable engagement in the process.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

The PA has been involved in this initiative from its inception,
following a roundtable discussion on Transparency chaired by David
Willetts in March 2011. We proposed the establishment of an
independent cross-sector working group to explore the options for
extending access to global research outputs for the benefit of UK
researchers. Working alongside representatives from the funding
agencies, the research councils, universities, libraries, the learned
societies and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, we
agreed terms of reference, a balanced delegate list was invited, a
secretariat appointed, and Dame Janet Finch was invited as chair. The
PA has not been party to the proceedings of the Finch group itself,
other than through three publisher representatives, but we have worked
to keep scholarly publishers informed of the issues under debate, the
direction of travel, and the likely recommendations.

The UK is a global leader in research, accounting for just 3% of R&D
spending yet 6% of the world’s articles and 11% of the world’s
citations. The UK is also a global leader in IP-based industries
including its Science, Technical and Medical (STM) information
industry which supports the leadership position of UK research.
Annually the STM information industry generates no less than £1.2
billion of export revenue for the UK, employs over 10,000 people in
the UK, and is a leading investor in electronic technologies.

The Publishers Association

The Publishers Association is the leading trade organisation serving
book, journal, audio and electronic publishers in the UK. Membership
is comprised of 117 companies from across the trade, academic and
education sectors. Its core service is representation and lobbying,
around copyright, rights and other matters relevant to members, who
represent roughly 80% of the industry by turnover.
www.publishers.org.uk. For further information on accessibility
initiatives visit www.publishers.org.uk/accessibility.

For further comment please contact Richard Mollet
[log in to unmask] on 0207 691 1400 or Graham Taylor
[log in to unmask] on 0207 691 1377.

LINK TO FINCH REPORT

http://www.researchinfonet.org/publish/wg-expand-access/

Kelly Signorelli-Chaplin
Head of Communications
The Publishers Association Limited
London
e: [log in to unmask]
w: www.publishers.org.uk