Read ALPSP Response to UK Ref OA Policy Consultation.

Read STM endorsement letter.

Research England
Westward House
Lime Kiln Close
Stoke Gifford
Bristol
BS34 8SR
United Kingdom

The Hague, 17 June 2024

To the kind attention of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) team

Subject: Endorsement of the submissions by the UK Publishers Association and the Association of Learned Professional and Society Publishers to the REF Open Access consultation

I am writing to you on behalf of STM, which represents academic publishers worldwide.

STM is the standard bearer for the academic publishing industry, working with its members to advance trusted research worldwide. We are committed to ensuring that the great discoveries of our time are communicated with pinpoint accuracy, clarity and integrity. We champion innovation across academic research, stimulating the development of new technologies and guidance on universal standards. STM’s members are responsible for around two thirds of all published papers from the worlds of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and humanities. We invest in developing new technologies and standards to ensure research is of the highest quality, trustworthy and easy to access. STM has more than 140 members across the globe, including all the major commercial publishers, learned societies and university presses.

STM stands for advancing open and trusted research, where researchers and the rest of society can rely on information that is credible, accessible, linked and searchable in perpetuity.

In light of the ongoing REF 2029 Open Access (OA) consultation, we would like to formally endorse the submissions made by our colleagues at the UK Publishers Association (PA) and the Association of Learned Professional and Society Publishers (ALPSP).

Our own STM dashboard confirms a very strong growth of OA in the UK (especially through the gold route) and that a growing number of authors select the gold OA route when it is offered by a journal. The share of subscription-only output has more than halved since 2013 while the share of gold OA has almost quadrupled. In 2023, 66% of the publications in the UK were made available via gold OA. The gold route and transformative agreements are clear drivers of the OA growth in the past years.

In light of these efforts and achievements, we confirm support for the approach taken in the REF to align with the UKRI policy and note that, as highlighted above, the path to compliance is vastly ensured through the gold OA route and transformative agreements. However, amendments must be made to embargo periods and licensing conditions to ensure that authors remain able, in consultation with publishers, to choose the conditions that they believe most appropriate for their publication.

More significant concerns exist around the proposed extension of REF OA requirements to longform publications, for which infrastructure and funding are largely not in place nor sufficient to enable compliance with the proposed requirements. Changes in policy must be evidence-based, sustainable, and foresee the support and funding needed for the changes to be implemented and the requirements to be fulfilled. The strength, quality and diversity of UK research published in the longform could be compromised by the current proposal.

Thus, we support the request that the proposed extension of OA requirements to longform for the purpose of REF 2029 be suspended. Further research, sector engagement and an impact assessment should be undertaken before proceeding with this policy. Publishers remain available to offer help and support in identifying enabling factors and desirable policy options for longform research outputs.

We trust that due consideration will be given to the opinions and recommendations put forward by colleagues at the UK PA and ALPSP and highlighted here. These are fundamental for shaping a policy framework that supports the advancement of trusted research in the UK.

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the consultation and please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further information or clarification.

Kind regards,

Caroline Sutton
CEO, International Association of Scientific, Medical, Technical Publishers (STM)