[Forwarding from the University of Southampton. --Peter.]
20 July 2004
Southampton scientists welcome Parliamentary report on academic publishing
Researchers at the University of Southampton's School of Electronics and
Computer Science have welcomed the conclusions of the report into the
future of academic publishing conducted by the House of Commons Science and
Technology Committee, and published today.
The Committee has recommended that all researchers should self-archive
their papers within a month of publication, and that universities should be
funded to provide the facilities to allow them to do this. This fulfils the
vision and principles under which the ECS scientists have been working, as
part of the Open Access movement. 'The Committee's conclusions, if followed
by universities in this country, will improve the visibility and impact of
UK research,' says Dr Les Carr, who has been leading the digital archiving
research at ECS.
ECS researchers have been at the forefront of the Open Access movement,
promoting and demonstrating the benefits of Open Access archiving of
research output, as well as developing software to allow institutions to
easily set up their own archives (software.eprints.org). Their work has
been funded by JISC (the Joint Information Systems Committee) and has been
instrumental in advancing the Open Access debate.
'In a move two years ago that prefigured the conclusions of the
parliamentary report, it was made mandatory for our own researchers in the
School of Electronics and Computer Science to self-archive all their
research papers, resulting in the most populated institutional archive in
the UK (www.eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk),' said Dr Carr. 'This has provided a
very positive and personal example to us of the benefits that can derive
from Open Access. Everyone wants to see their research papers reaching as
wide an audience as possible and Open Access provides the best way to
achieve this.'
Notes for Editors
1. Further information on Open Access and the digital libraries project is
available at: http://www.eprints.org
2. Professor Stevan Harnad, regarded by many as the founder of the Open
Access movement, has been successfully leading the debate from the School
of Electronics and Computer Science over a number of years, and has argued
forcefully for its adoption by the academic community worldwide.
3. The School of Electronics and Computer Science at Southampton carries
out world-leading research in electronics, electrical engineering, and
computer science.
4. The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and research
institution with a global reputation for pioneering research and
scholarship. The University has over 19,200 students and 4800 staff and
plays an important role in the City of Southampton. Its annual turnover is
in the region of £250 million.
For further information
Dr Les Carr, School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of
Southampton (tel.023 8059 4479; 07759 175921 (mobile); email
l...@ecs.soton.ac.uk)
Joyce Lewis, Communications Manager, School of Electronics and Computer
Science (tel.023 8059 5453; email j.k.le...@ecs.soton.ac.uk)
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