Open access from a funder’s perspectiveJonathan Connor

Introduction

Who am I?

Who are the ESRC?

ESRC’s online presence

Where does open access fit in?

What does this mean for you?

Who am I?

Digital Communications Team Manager

Website content

Web redevelopment

ESRC’s research catalogue

Who are the ESRC?

Began in 1965, as the Social Science Research Council

One of seven research councils

Promote and support social science research and

postgraduate training

Advance knowledge and contribute to economic

competitiveness, public services effectiveness and

quality of life

Promote public understanding of social science.

ESRC’s online presence

Website content

Social science repository (research catalogue)

Related resources, eg investment websites

Currently being redeveloped

Website content

Funding opportunities

Guidance for applicants, grant holders,

collaborators etc.

News, features, case studies

Training materials and toolkits

8,000 pages

esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk

New website

Social sciences repository

Database of ESRC research records going back to

1975

Current version launched in 2005 (data from previous

database called “Regard” was migrated)

Includes details of awards and their outputs

Approximately 10,000 awards and >100,000 outputs

Social sciences repository

Grant details are automatically fed into the database from

managed information systems

Grant holders are automatically registered

Grant holders self-submit abstracts, summaries and outputs

Reminders are sent to grant holders

Grant holder support team in place

In 2006, it became an open access repository for ESRC-funded

research

Output types

The ESRC repository allows the deposition of over 40

different types of research outputs, including:

Journal articles

Conference proceedings

Books, chapters and sections

Datasets

Multimedia and audio-visual materials

Award and output details

Different output types

Output detail page

Social science repository redevelopment

• Launch at same time as new website

• Improved search, upload and presentation

• Renamed ‘research catalogue’

Research Councils and open access

RCUK is the strategic partnership of the research

councils

RCUK published a position statement on access to

research outputs in 2006

Individual research councils then published their own

position statements

RCUK position statement on access to research outputs

• Publicly funded research should be made available and

accessible as rapidly as possible

• Outputs should be effectively peer reviewed

• Models and mechanisms used must be a cost-effective

use of public funds

• Outputs must be preserved and remain accessible.

RCUK report 2008

Report looked at the effects and impacts of open

access on publishing models and institutional

repositories.

In response to the report, the Research Councils have

agreed to support open access by:

• building on their mandates on grant holders to

deposit research papers in suitable repositories

• extending their support for publishing in open access

journals.

ESRC and open access

ESRC actively promotes open access to all of the

research that it wholly or partially funds

Open access to research outputs increases their

dissemination and resulting impact, usually leading to

an increase in citations 1

1 In their academics' guide to open access

(http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/dis/disresearch/poc/pages/academicg

uide-summary.html - accessed 2008-09-30), JISC and SURF (a foundation

in the Netherlands) claim an increase of 50-250% in citations.

ESRC open access policy

For grants awarded after October 2006, grant holders must:

• deposit a copy of any resultant articles published in journals or conference

proceedings, in the ESRC awards and outputs database

• wherever possible, deposit the bibliographic metadata relating to such

articles, including a link to the publisher’s website, at or around the time of

publication.

ESRC also encourages grant holders to deposit articles from grants

awarded before October 2006.

Researchers also deposit bibliographic metadata and full texts of research

outputs other than articles and conference proceedings.

ESRC open access policy

• Authors must respect publishers’ copyright and licensing policies,

eg embargo periods

• The version of an article that is deposited depends on publishers’

agreements with their authors

• Authors won’t be required to negotiate copyright and licensing

agreements with their publishers

ESRC open access policy

• Authors choose where to publish their research

• Dissemination should generally be factored into the research cost

• ESRC will endeavour to work with publishers to put mechanisms in

place for publishers to submit publications on behalf of authors

• Grant holders are also encouraged to deposit articles and/or

associated metadata in institutional and other appropriate

repositories

Grant holder support team

• The ESRC Grant Holder Support Team vets deposited items to

ensure bibliographic metadata is complete and accurate

• When checking is complete, the deposited items are catalogued in

the database

Any copyright violations are the responsibility of the

authors/depositors. If copyright is violated, the relevant item will be

removed immediately.

Further information

• RCUK:

www.rcuk.ac.uk/access/default.htm

• ESRC:

http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/support/access

• JISC:

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/aboutus/committees/workinggroups/scholarlycomms/oa.aspx

• jonathan.connor@esrc.ac.uk