The Times Higher Education (THE) supplement today published its interview with economist John Houghton who, in association with other researchers, has just published a JISC-funded report into the economic benefits for UK research and education of open access publishing models.

THE discusses JISC research into open access publishing

JISC-funded research into the economic benefits of open access publishing was today the focus of an article in today's Times Higher Education (THE) online.

Professor John Houghton from the Centre of Strategic Economic Studies at Melbourne’s Victoria University and Professor Charles Oppenheim at Loughborough University and colleagues led this research, which throws light on the economic and social implications of new models for scholarly publishing. An interview with John Houghton will appear in February's issue of Inform, JISC's termly magazine.

'When you consider that (more than £20 billion) a year is spent on research and development in the UK, it would be useful if we knew that we were getting value for money.'The study considered three models of scholarly publishing. Firstly, subscription access, where readers are charged and the use of material is restricted. Secondly, open access, where access is free and publication is funded from the author's side. Thirdly, open access self-archiving, where authors post their work in online repositories, providing free online access for all.

Professor Houghton said the report's aim was to determine the most cost-effective publishing model for the long-term, not simply the cheapest.

PDFRead the report in PDF format
'Economic Implications of Alternative Scholarly Publishing Models: Exploring the costs and benefits.'

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