RCUK announced its new policies in July 2012, along with guidance on their implications. In November, it wrote to universities informing them of the block grant they will receive for the two years starting on 1 April 2013 to meet the costs of the new policies, and it has provided a spreadsheet showing how the grant for each university was calculated. Following a meeting at Swindon in November 2012, there have been further discussions with representatives of universities, publishers and learned societies. As a result, updated guidance was issued on 6 March 2013, and a final version on 8 April 2013, along with a series of FAQs.
The RIN has been commissioned by RCUK to undertake a series of case studies of the policies and procedures institutions are adopting in response to RCUK’s new policies; and to produce guidance on good practice on a range of issues including the payment of article processing charges (APCs) for articles published by groups of authors from more than one institution. The project will also examine the options for institutions in developing mechanisms to gather data sufficient to meet the needs of the Research Councils in monitoring levels of compliance with their new policies. The project is due to be completed by July 2013.
RCUK has also, along with many other organisations and individuals including the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, submitted written and oral evidence to two Parliamentary Inquiries investigating the implementation of the new policies:
- first to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, and
- second, to the House of Commons Select Committee on Business, Innovation and Skills
The report from the Lords Science and Technology Committee was published on 21 February. This was followed by a short debate on the floor of the House, on 28 February. Lord Krebs, the Chair of the Committee, wrote to RCUK on 20 March about the revised guidance that had been issued for consultation at that stage, suggesting further changes.
98 organisations and individuals submitted written evidence to the Commons Committee, and an oral evidence session was held on 16 April.
The Wellcome Trust announced in June 2012 that it would strengthen its open access policies which have been in place since 2006.
The Department for International Development announced its new open access policies also in 2012.
The European Commission announced in 2012 that it intended to make open access a requirement for publications arising from the Horizon 2020 programme which will start in 2014. Details of the new policies have yet to be announced.
RCUK and the Wellcome Trust have commissioned SherpaRoMEO to establish a user-friendly system to advise on whether or not journals comply with their requirements. A beta version of the new service is now available
Last update: 8 April 2013