[Date: 2007-01-10]
EURAB (European Research Advisory Board) es un comité asesor independiente, formado por expertos de varios países, creado por la Comisión Europea para ofrecer consejo sobre el diseño y la implementación de la política científica europea.
Este comité acaba de publicar un informe en el que recomienda a la Comisión Europea que considere el establecimiento de un mandato según el cual todos los investigadores financiados bajo el séptimo programa marco (FP7) estarían obligados a publicar los resultados de su investigación en un repositorio "open access" con un periodo de embargo de 6 meses desde su publicación inicial.
Os mando el texto completo de la noticia de prensa. Si queréis podéis leer el texto completo del informe aquí.
The open access debate has been triggered by the rapid and radical
change in science communication brought about by the rise of the
internet. There is also a desire to disseminate more widely the results
of publicly funded research in order to raise awareness of the benefits
of investing in science, and at the same time to bring down the costs
of research for public authorities. Public funding bodies are currently
paying three times for research, according to EURAB. First they pay for
the research itself, then for peer review, and finally for a library
subscription to the journal in which the resulting paper is published.
Additional author-side fees levied by traditional toll-access journals
may be considered a fourth cost.
The Commission has three roles to play in drafting and implementing
a policy on open access, says EURAB: as a funding body, a policy body,
and a supporting body.
As a funding body, the Commission seek to increase the visibility
of, and improve access to, research funded by the Commission without
compromising the freedom of scientists to publish where they feel is
most appropriate.
A key recommendation is that the Commission considers instructing
those receiving FP7 funding to lodge any publications resulting from
their research in an open access repository as soon as possible after
publication. The paper should be made openly accessible within six
months.
EURAB says that the repository could be a local institution or
dedicated to a specific subject. Deposit should be made once a journal
or conference has accepted it for publication, and the repository
should release the metadata immediately, with access restrictions to
the full text article to be applied as required. Open access should
then be implemented as soon as practicable after the author-requested
embargo, or within six months, whichever comes first.
EURAB suggests that the Commission begins the roll out of such a
complex policy issue with research funded by the European Research
Council (ERC), which came into being with the launch of FP7.
As a supporting body, the Commission should place emphasis on
streamlining the process of deposit for researchers, and on standards
for supporting interoperability. In this context, the Commission should
introduce a specific supporting action in every FP7 thematic priority
to facilitate the use of deposit in open access repositories, states
the EURAB report.
The Commission's role as a policy body should be to encourage all
Member States to promote open access publication policies for all of
their publicly funded research.
A communication on scientific publishing is expected shortly from the European Commission.