The Finch report: Developments and implications for The University of Northampton Miggie Pickton RSP Webinar: The role of institutional repositories after the Finch report 4 th December 2012

Outline About The University of Northampton Open access (OA) services pre Finch report –Repository, open journals, research data The Finch report – university response Challenges and opportunities post Finch

About The University of Northampton Achieved university status 2005 Committed to delivering “outstanding life changing opportunities in education, underpinned by a culture of entrepreneurship, purposeful research and social enterprise recognised around the world for its originality and impact” [1] 200+ research students, ??? research active staff – numbers are rising Increased focus on research and supporting the research community High level interest in research performance, especially metrics that underpin league tables [1] Raising the Bar Strategic Plan

Open access at Northampton - NECTAR Institutional repository: NECTAR (Northampton Electronic Collection of Theses And Research)NECTAR Developed 2007, launched 2008 Repository policy: “Entry of bibliographic details (metadata) only will be accepted in NECTAR if it is legally or technically impossible to include the full work (e.g. if copyright prevents submission or if it is artwork or a performance). Full text (or other complete content) is preferred.” (NECTAR Briefing sheet)NECTAR Briefing sheet Metadata for 3377 research outputs; access to full content for 162 items Workflow changed in 2011 to increase researcher involvement and encourage upload of full text

Open access at Northampton - Journals Northampton Open Journals collectionNorthampton Open Journals Created 2009, based on Open Journal Systems softwareOpen Journal Systems (Small) collection of open access journals, edited by university staff and bound by rigorous quality controls set by University Research and Enterprise Committee Open access policy: journals to be “available to all”. Content to be “used freely, with proper attribution, in educational and other non-commercial settings.” (Information for Editors, p.12)Information for Editors One ‘official’ journal, others (not in the collection) supported by library and IT staff

Open access at Northampton – research data Research data policy: the University expects researchers to “make relevant primary data and research evidence accessible to others for reasonable periods after the completion of the research”Research data policy Research data roadmap: –based on EPSRC expectations but adapted to be relevant to all disciplines –Approved by Research and Enterprise Committee; awaiting approval from University Executive Team Implementation of policy and roadmap being supported by DCC through one of their institutional engagementsinstitutional engagements

OA at Northampton pre Finch report - summary Several services underpinned by policies of open access High level support from Vice Chancellor and from several key individuals (see these videos)these videos But... –Limited researcher engagement –Still some basic misunderstandings re open access (e.g. OA is lower quality; paying for OA is vanity publishing; cannot deposit in NECTAR because copyright has been transferred) –Open access is desirable in principle but low down most folks’ list of priorities

Finch report – university response October 2012 – Finch report raised as Chair’s matter at Research and Enterprise Committee (R&EC) –No immediate action identified –Request for further information Autumn 2012 – increasing interest in Schools; Repository Manager invited to one School research meeting November 2012 – raised as a discussion item at R&EC –Paper presented by Repository Manager Outlined background to Finch report and invited a university response to its recommendations Used NECTAR to provide supporting evidence...

Supporting evidence For articles published in 2011: –Number of articles in NECTAR (with or without full text) –Number of these articles which could be self-archived without payment (according to RoMEO and publishers’ websites) – the green OA route –Number of these articles for which Article Processing Charges (APCs) are an option –Total cost if APC options taken up where available –Average APC Produced useful benchmark figures but very susceptible to change due to future author publishing practices, journal choices, funders’ demands, journal pricing structures etc.

Ongoing discussion R&EC decided to invite all Schools to participate in discussion; five questions circulated for discussion at School R&ECs: 1.“Should open access (OA) be promoted as the principal channel for research publications at the University of Northampton? 2.Which route to OA is most appropriate for UoN research – ‘gold’, ‘green’ or a mix of both? 3.If the university follows the Finch report recommendation and establishes a publication fund to meet the cost of article processing charges (APCs), where should the monies come from and how should the fund be regulated and administered? 4.How will the existence of APCs affect researchers’ publication decisions? How can any negative effects be ameliorated? 5.From your School’s perspective, which are the key issues with Finch’s recommendations?” Responses will form the basis of a paper to be presented to the University’s Executive Team

Challenges post Finch The big one: Creation of an OA fund –How much? –Paid for by whom? –Allocated on what basis (especially for multi-authored papers)? –Administered by whom? The University of Northampton gets a relatively low proportion of its research funding from RCUK and will not receive any of the block grantblock grant

More challenges Persuading researchers that the implications of the Finch Report affect everyone (not just those who are RCUK funded) Tackling researcher misconceptions Recognising and accommodating the differences between disciplines Striking a balance between green and gold OA Arriving at a solution that meet the needs of all parties (just like the Finch group!)

Opportunities post Finch LLS staff will be addressing the same questions as Schools in a departmental debate next month The more complex the publishing landscape, the more we can help, for example: –Advice on journal publishers’ policies (RoMEO to the rescue) –Choosing where to publish – promoting OA journals whilst avoiding the ‘predatory’ publishers –Promoting green OA when gold OA is not an option –Creation of other OA opportunities e.g. University journals

More opportunities Lack of external funding means lack of external expectation... Is this an opportunity to punch above our weight? Finch has massively raised the profile of OA (and the emphasis on gold OA has drawn attention to green) –This is a GOOD THING!

With apologies to Dame Janet Finch: It’s not just Defra that is struggling to adjust to the fallout from the Finch report, Finch herself has noted some troubling issues. Speaking at a conference earlier this month, Dame Janet revealed that she regularly finds herself in the surreal position of talking about “implementing Finch” and on a subject that is even more disconcerting for her family—”developing post-Finch scenarios”. Research FortnightResearch Fortnight,

Miggie Pickton Research Support Librarian Library and Learning Services Direct line: