A Scottish Open Access Press – Survey
More than ever before academics are expected to publish their research results Open Access. The UK funding councils under the UKRI umbrella have had an open access policy since 2013 (see related blog post for the latest update on this). The 4 national UK funding bodies too have advocated for greater open access, most notably in the requirements for the next Research Excellence Framework (REF2021). Other funders, such as Wellcome Trust, the COAF charity funders, as well as the European Research Council and other international funders, all require researchers to publish open access. Many universities too have established open access policies of their own, including the University of St Andrews.
Given this environment SCURL (Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries) are scoping the possibility for a shared Scottish Open Access Press, to assist Scottish researchers in meeting these open access requirements.
SCURL have prepared a short survey, to help establish the viability of a shared Scottish Open Access Press. We’ve been asked to share it with researchers at University of St Andrews, to see if there is appetite here for such a national-level press, so please do feel free to share it amongst your colleagues. The survey is short, taking only around 15 minutes to complete, and all responses are anonymous.
https://dundee.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/scurl-proof-concept-scot-open-access-press
This survey will be open from Tuesday 30th April until Monday 20th May 2019.
SCURL have appointed a consultant to look at the potential remit and operational models for a Scottish Press. See the proof of concept for a Scottish Universities Press. A focus group will be held in Glasgow on 16th May 2019 and we will post further developments on this blog.