From: Richard Poynder <[log in to unmask]> Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:49:06 +0100 The House of Lords Science & Technology Committee has today published its report on implementation of the UK government’s Open Access policy. Commenting, Lord Krebs, Chairman of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, said: “RCUK did not consult or communicate effectively with key stakeholders in the publishing and academic communities when implementing its open access policy. While we are delighted that our inquiry has shown that RCUK are proposing to phase in their open access policy during the initial five-year implementation phase, this should have been made clear much earlier. That is why we call upon the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to review how RCUK communicated this important change. “There are still many unknowns concerning the impact of the open access policy, which is why RCUK must commit to a wide rangeing review of its policy in 2014, 2016 and before it expects full compliance in 2018. We heard significant concern about the policy’s ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, and are pleased that RCUK are both aware of these concerns and prepared to act on them. “Open access is an inexorable trend. The Government must ensure that in further developing our capabilities to share research they do not inadvertently damage the ‘complex ecosystem’ of research communication in the UK.” The report is available here: http://ow.ly/hWw0f RCUK’s response is here: http://ow.ly/hWwaE Times Higher news story here: http://ow.ly/hWxbT A background piece here: http://j.mp/11XPsoX Richard Poynder