The report of the Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings, which was chaired by Dame Janet Finch and commissioned by the British government, was published on 18 June. The report analyses the current and emerging research publishing environment and notes that open-access and hybrid journals will play an important role in the future. In the executive summary, the authors describe the key issue as being " how to expand and improve access to research publications for the benefit of all who have a stake or an interest in research and its results." In their view, barriers to access to publicly funded research, in particular, are "increasingly unacceptable in an online world". The report explicitly recommends that the UK should embrace the transition to open access publishing. It proposes a number of ways in which this transition can be accelerated in an ordered and innovative manner, and with minimal risks for all concerned.
Report: Accessibility, sustainability, excellence: how to expand access to research publications
Sources:
Research Information Network: Expanding access to research publications
Executive Summary of the Finch Report