SCONUL today welcomed the announcement from HEFCE that the post-2014 Research Excellence Framework will require journal articles and certain conference proceedings to be made open-access, describing the move as a “great leap forward” in the transition to an open access environment for scholarly publishing.

Sara Marsh, Chair of SCONUL, said

"Those of us leading university libraries have long argued that the case for making taxpayer-funded research as open as possible is compelling.  The benefits are clear: not just in opening up access to knowledge for the research community, but also for students and the broader community including British business.

“Although modestly expressed, this move by HEFCE represents a great leap forward in the move towards an open access world.  SCONUL libraries will be working with their academic communities to implement the new requirements and to use the new freedoms it provides to promote their research findings as widely as possible.”

Ends

Press release

Notes to Editors:

1. About SCONUL: SCONUL is the Society of College, National and University Libraries (sconul.ac.uk).  We represent all university libraries in the UK and Ireland, irrespective of mission group, as well as national libraries and many of the UK’s colleges of higher education. SCONUL promotes awareness of the role of academic libraries in supporting research excellence and student achievement and employability, and represents their views and interests to government, regulators and other stakeholders. It helps academic libraries collaborate to deliver services efficiently, including through shared services, and to share knowledge and best practice.

2. For more information about SCONUL, please contact Ann Rossiter on 07780 43049 or at ann.rossiter@sconul.ac.uk

3. A copy of the SCONUL submission to the HEFCE consultation on open access and the Post-2014 REF can be found here.