JISC

JISC’s open access funding initiative – which provided £384,500 over three years to publishers to explore open access models of publishing for their journals – has given 'valuable impetus' to thinking around open access and 'has had the effect of raising awareness among the UK author community,' says a report published today.

Provided as 'seed money' to publishers to experiment with alternative publishing models, the funding has, says the report, provided publishers with 'a timely opportunity to develop and experiment' with open access publishing, with all participating publishers remaining committed to their open access projects after funding has ceased.

Authors too have found the experience positive, the evaluation study has found. The funding was designed to allow publishers to waive all or part of the open access fee they normally charge to authors based in the UK. As part of the evaluation process, 124 authors who benefited from the JISC funding took the opportunity to provide feedback on their experience of publishing in open access form. The results show that not only was the JISC funding influential in encouraging authors to publish in this way, but that 78% of them were likely to choose to publish in an open access form again.

The findings corroborate earlier studies which show that authors respond positively to publishing in open access journals, valuing the principle of free access to all readers and the consequent wider readership that open access enables. These, says the current study, are two of the five main factors influencing authors’ publishing decisions, the others being prestige, impact factor and citations. The initiative has, the report concludes, provided 'a catalyst for change in authors’ perceptions and behaviour in relation to publishing in an open access form.'

Welcoming the publication of the report, Dr Tom Graham, University Librarian at Newcastle University and Chair of JISC’s Journals Working Group, which instigated the open access programme, said:

“This initiative has been a significant success, providing a much-needed evidence base for the effects of open access on authors and publishers and in terms of moving the open access debate on. The report highlights these effects but also points to areas in which further work can be done in the future. JISC looks forward to working in partnership with publishers and other organisations to explore how the aims of the programme can be moved forward still further.”

Fred Friend, JISC Scholarly Communication Consultant, said:

"We have been delighted to work with publishers under this programme and we hope for further collaboration as the benefits from open access publication are realised".

JISC funding enabled publishers to explore a number of issues in relation to open access publishing. Martin Richardson, Managing Director of Oxford Journals, which has been undertaking a range of open access-related activities, said:

“The JISC funding helped us to ensure a sufficient level of uptake by UK-based authors for us to begin to analyze whether research results published under an open access model achieve wider dissemination and citation than articles from the same journal published under a subscription based model.”

Key Perspectives, the organisation which conducted the study on behalf of JISC, commented:

“On the basis of the evidence produced by the evaluation process, the open access publishing initiative has not only delivered a variety of positive benefits for the participating publishers, but it has also helped raise awareness of  open access publishing within the UK’s scholarly community.”

For further information, please contact: Philip Pothen

Notes for Editors

1. JISC open access funding initiative. Between 2004 and 2006 JISC invested £384,500 in its open access funding initiative. The funds have been distributed between six publishers: PLoS (for PLoS Biology); Institute of Physics Publishing (for the New Journal of Physics); the Journal of Experimental Botany; the International Union of Crystallography; BMJ Publishing Group (for the Journal of Medical Genetics); and Oxford University Press (for Nucleic Acids Research).
2. JISC – the Joint Information Systems Committee – is a joint committee of the UK further and higher education funding bodies and is responsible for supporting the innovative use of information and communication technology (ICT) to support learning, teaching, and research.  It is best known for providing the JANET network, a range of support, content and advisory services, and a portfolio of high-quality resources. See more about JISC's services and programmes