Open Access to Research Outputs—Institutional Policies and Researchers' Views: Results From Two Complementary Surveys

Abstract

This paper presents the results of two complementary surveys undertaken in 2008 as part of a wider project investigating the effects and impact of open access to research outputs in the UK. The institutional view, from a survey of academic librarians, is compared to researchers' perceptions and practices. Researchers were largely unaware of their institutions' policies with regard to open access, or whether they had an institutional repository. Reasons for making research outputs available on open access, or not doing so, were sought, and the role of open access material as a research resource investigated. The surveys found that many researchers maintained a suspicion of open access publications, both as authors and as users of scholarly material, together with a degree of ignorance about open access and the role of institutional repositories. This suggests that a degree of culture change may be needed, as institutions develop repositories with a view to future research assessment requirements, and more funders adopt open access mandates for the outputs from research which they fund.

Keywords:

• open access
• scholarly communication
• repositories
• self-archiving
• research outputs

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Research Councils UK for funding the work on which this article is based.

Notes

¹Source: HESA, 2006–07.

²Research Libraries UK.

¹AHRC (Arts & Humanities Research Council); BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council); EPSRC (Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council); ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council); MRC (Medical Research Council); NERC (Natural Environment Research Council); STFC (Science & Technology Facilities Council)