Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress he has made in negotiations with private publishers on the confidentiality clauses negotiated by them when supplying university libraries.

The Government remains committed to making publicly funded and published research freely and openly available. In the long term we believe the most effective form of Open Access (OA) will be Gold OA. I last commented on this subject in November 2013 in the Government's response to the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee report on OA and this answer updates on progress since that statement.

I was very pleased that in May 2014 the Institute of Physics (IoP) Publishing, a major publisher of academic papers, introduced an ‘offsetting' arrangement that will allow institutions to publish more open access papers without incurring additional costs. I strongly encourage other publishers to follow the IoP Publishing's lead.

Further, the ‘Access to Research' initiative was launched in February 2014 through the support of the publishing community. It allows students, independent researchers and small businesses to access many of the world's best academic papers through their local libraries.

We intend to maintain this level of progress and I am pleased that Universities UK (UUK) have agreed to take on a co-ordinating role for the continued implementation of OA policy in the UK. This follows a recommendation in the Finch Group's report ‘Review of progress in Implementing the Recommendations of the Finch Report‘, UUK are in the process of setting up a group which will consist of key stakeholders similar to that of the Finch Group.

Additionally the Research Sector Transparency Board (RSTB) which I chair advises Government on how to increase access to research data. My intention is that the RSTB will also continue to play a role in OA and preservation of scientific data.

In relation to confidentiality clauses this Department continues to monitor the situation and is encouraged by recent developments in this area.

Finally, I wish to record my appreciation for the achievements of Ron Egginton, our lead official on OA who sadly and suddenly died on 8 June 2014. His expertise and commitment was instrumental in the progress that has been achieved in making the UK the leading major nation on OA.