Research: Publishing

(asked on 11th February 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential risk to the UK of progressing Open Access in advance of other international research in (a) the US and (b) China.


Answered by
Chris Skidmore Portrait
Chris Skidmore
This question was answered on 19th February 2019

Open Access is central to the Government’s and UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) ambitions for research and innovation, with openness being key to world class research and delivering the wider aims of the Industrial Strategy, including the ambition to raise total R&D investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027. Sharing knowledge openly has benefits not only for researchers, but also businesses and wider society by accelerating new discoveries.

The UK is among the world’s top research nations, with a world-leading research and innovation base for attracting and retaining researchers. As set out in the UKRI Strategic Prospectus, “talent” and “open research” are two key foundations for excellent research and innovation. Throughout the Open Access Review UKRI will be engaging and consulting with the sector and a range of relevant stakeholders, including researchers, to understand the effects of its Open Access policy. Transitioning towards Open Access is the direction of travel taken by all leading research nations, and UKRI will be taking an evidence-based approach, and will consider the international context in its Review to help ensure that the UK remains a top destination for global researchers.

The UK’s substantial commitment to Open Access over the past years has resulted in it being at the forefront of the global movement to Open Access. This has benefited the UK, for example through increased levels of international collaboration as set out in the “Ascent of Open Access” report from Digital Science (available at https://www.digital-science.com/blog/news/the-ascent-of-open-access-report/). International collaboration is essential to ensure that the UK maintains its world leading position in research and innovation, and to bring benefit to the society and economy of the UK. Other advantages of Open Access, such as increased citation, are evidenced in the STM Report “An overview of scientific and scholarly publishing” (available at https://www.stm-assoc.org/2018_10_04_STM_Report_2018.pdf).

All leading research nations, including the US and China, have signalled their intent to move towards Open Access (Nature, December 2018 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07659-5). The international open access collaboration, Plan S, is led by Science Europe but includes international engagement beyond Europe.

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