The Commission of the EC on regulation and self-regulation pro OA

["Armbruster, Chris" <Chris.Armbruster@EUI.eu>]

Commission of the European Communities (CEC) Conference 
"Scientific Publishing in the European Research Area -- Access, 
Dissemination and Preservation in the Digital Age", Brussels, 
15-16 February 2007

Communication from the CEC "On Scientific Information in the 
Digital Age: Access, Dissemination and Preservation" COM (2007) 
56 (provisional)

The CEC expresses in the provisional Communication its intention 
to support access to community funded research results by
-- Defining as eligible costs for open access publishing in 
community research programmes;
-- Allowing mandatory deposit policies with a post-publication 
embargo period to be implemented as advised by EURAB for FP7 and 
intended by the ERC for future grants (announced in December 
2006);
-- Co-funding research infrastructure development (E50m for 
digital repositories, E25m for digital preservation and 
collaborative tools, E10m for access and use of scientific 
information);
-- Funding a study on the economic aspects of digital 
preservation;
-- Funding research on publication business models and on the 
scientific publication system.

>From the Opening Speech of the Commissioner Janez Potocnik and 
the Communication it emerges that the CEC embraces change and 
wishes to enhance access to knowledge, but is equally concerned 
about economic competitiveness and innovation as well as digital 
preservation. Concerns may be discerned with regard to the road 
ahead, and these centre on how to ensure that a "critical mass" 
of high quality scientific information becomes available without 
undue disruption of the system due to exorbitant transitional 
costs or a gap in accessibility.

What this means is that while the CEC broadly embraces the move 
towards open access to scientific knowledge, it is cognisant of 
the fact that in the EU 780 scientific publishers employ 36,000 
persons and produce 49% of world output (from the Communication). 
Consequently, it is unlikely that there will be outright support 
for a European policy mandating published articles arising from 
EC-funded research to be available after a given time period in 
open access archives.

The significance of this is that the CEC is not (at present) 
willing to intercede pro OA with overt political regulation. That 
leaves the field open to self-regulation, which means that 
research funders, research organisations, universities and 
libraries must and will -- with each other - negotiate the way 
forward. The significance of the EURAB recommendation and ERC 
intentions then is that they support a broader European move 
towards OA -- by publishing and by deposition.

The publishers may, presently, be relieved that there will be no 
overt political regulation. But their "Brussels Declaration on 
STM Publishing" is only remarkable for confirming how 
out-of-touch toll-access publishers have become -- not only 
out-of-touch with the potential of digital technology and the 
wider opportunities of the knowledge-based economy, but also -- 
and even worse -- with the workflow and needs of scientists. It 
is not OA archiving mandates that threaten publishers, but their 
widespread unwillingness to embrace change and co-operate (not 
true, of course, for OA publishers). Indeed, it might well be 
that non-reforming publishers will be running for political cover 
very soon by demanding subsidies to preserve their outdated 
business models and technology.

This is why and how a case for wider political regulation could 
still be built: Studies are appearing that estimate a highly 
positive impact for OA on innovation and economic growth. Models 
and data that confirm this could persuade the CEC to help 
organise a transition to OA. There is an analogous precedent: 
Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information 
(17 November 2003). It was based on high expectations about the 
economic value of the PSI re-use market that would emerge. 
Essentially, the directive regulates OA to PSI.

The economic value of OA to scientific knowledge would seem to be 
of even higher value - compared to PSI -- and thus a real boost 
to the European knowledge economy. This would justify the 
instigation of an orderly transition to OA. Moreover, a directive 
on OA to scientific information might be the last chance for 
change-resistant publishers to save themselves. If the management 
of toll-access publishers is incapable, then we must do our best 
to create new publishing companies in Europe to salvage 36,000 
jobs and create new ones.

Chris Armbruster

Rapporteur
"Academic Publishing in Europe: Innovation & Publishing " - under 
the Patronage of Dr. Annette Schavan, Federal Minister of 
Education and Research in Germany and under the Auspices of the 
EU Research Directorate-General
http://www.ape2007.eu/text/0702ape07_short_report1.pdf

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