The business case for open access
Open access rewards not only researchers and universities but also the UK economy as a whole. As a knowledge economy, the effectiveness of the UK's research community – and the dissemination of that research – is essential to its success.
According to the Houghton report (January 2009), the financial return to UK plc from greater accessibility to research could result in an additional £172 million per year of benefits from government and higher education sector research alone. This is on top of the £80 million saving UK higher education could make by shifting from toll access to open access publishing.
Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are vital to a vibrant economy and these businesses, in particular, find it difficult to access the research papers they consider to be crucial sources of information for their work. Recent research shows that cost is the biggest single barrier when SMEs attempt to access research papers, and JISC's work to support open access will directly address this and so help to stimulate the innovation the UK needs.
See research into the business case for open access reports