1. A GOOD FUTURE FOR UNIVERSITY REPOSITORIES Frederick Friend Honorary Director Scholarly Communication UCL f.friend@ucl.ac.uk

2. ARE UNIVERSITY REPOSITORIES UNDER THREAT? Yes, in that Finch Report did not allow for repositories to play a major role in access to current research publications Yes, in that it is claimed that repositories cannot have sustainable business model Yes, when repositories have not implemented efficient deposit or search and retrieval services No, in that RCUK allows authors free choice between green and gold OA No, in that HEFCE propose linking repository deposit to mechanism for future research assessment No, where repositories continue to have strong support from university No, where repositories continue to implement efficient deposit, search and retrieval services No, if repositories build upon HMG’s wish to provide access to underlying research data In brief, despite the Finch Report and UK Government policy, many university repositories still have opportunities to develop further and become an essential feature of the scholarly communication environment

3. A BROAD ROLE FOR UNIVERSITY REPOSITORIES Gold OA cannot provide access to 100% of research journal literature, because of high cost of that route to OA and because not all research to which readers require access is published in APC-funded journals Therefore repository strategy should be to provide access to as wide a range of research literature and data as possible as cost-effectively as possible Repositories can provide readers with access to a wider range of research literature and data than even the biggest publisher N.B. this is a role for access to current content, not merely a preservation role or a grey literature role Repositories also provide services to their institution beyond the access role, e.g. records of REF submissions, individual author publication lists, departmental profiles, publicity for institution’s research and teaching etc. Usage and citation of articles deposited in repository can boost usage and citation of publisher’s version of same article: important for research assessment In brief repositories can become integral to all aspects of scholarly communication

4. DEVELOPING A REPOSITORY BUSINESS MODEL The various roles of a repository can be expressed in a business model This will be a business model which contains more elements than income and expenditure or profit and loss A public service business model can be more than a financial model and factor in non-monetary values for services provided For example, a repository may contribute to the achievement of the institutional strategy or to the academic performance of researchers or teachers Monetary values should be associated with those elements in the business model to which monetary values can be attributed, e.g. repository staff costs or savings through efficient institution-wide management of information Expressing both monetary and non-monetary values in a single business model can enable a repository manager to demonstrate the overall value of the repository to the institution In brief, despite claims to the contrary, the provision of open access through repositories can be demonstrated to be good (public sector) business

5. KEY ELEMENTS FOR REPOSITORY SUCCESS An institutional mandate which requires deposit on publication, release on OA after embargo, for all research publications An institutional policy on the retention of datasets arising from research, permitting open access to and re-use of the data, ideally linked to text of research paper in the repository Metadata which includes not only all elements required for searching but also a unique identifier which enables usage and citation to be counted Links between repository and research office to allow cross-checking of publications, with active pursuit of missing publications Regular feedback to authors on use and citations of repository content Regular publicity in university newspaper for high-use items in repository Nothing succeeds like success, and all of the above enable repository deposit to be seen as a normal academic activity

6. THE IMPORTANCE OF A RESEARCH DATA SERVICE TO THE FUTURE OF REPOSITORIES Minister David Willetts emphasised importance of access to underlying research data in his appearance before BIS Committee on 14 May At same meeting an MP spoke of need for greater investment in repositories We have to see what BIS Committee recommends, but this Committee – and HEFCE – have spoken in positive terms of future role of repositories Research Councils also looking at ways to make underlying research data accessible and to link data to publications Universities, with their direct relationship with researchers holding the data, can support Research Councils and HMG in this area, and repositories are the obvious agents for university authorities in this work The OpenAIREplus service is also developing such a combined text and data approach, and again the repositories in OpenAIRE are the key players at local level Providing a service for securing research datasets and providing access to them is not an easy task but whoever does it will have an important role in future research communication

7. VITAL ROLE FOR RSP AND REPOSITORY STAFF IN PROVIDING INFORMATION AND ADVICE TO AUTHORS Over the past year we have been in a situation of new national policies, modifications to those national policies, and considerable controversy Even those of us following the situation closely have had to check regularly for the latest situation, so many authors must be uncertain The choices authors make within the current national policies will be crucial for the future of open access, both green and gold It is important that authors are made aware of those choices and do not necessarily follow their previous practice because following past practice (e.g. in the choice of a journal in which to publish) may not provide good academic value or financial value And yet authors’ academic freedom will have to be respected In any repository (or RSP) business plan this role of providing information and advice to authors could on its own produce sufficient benefit to justify the repository’s (or RSP’s) existence

8. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! Any questions now? Please contact me at any time at f.friend@ucl.ac.ukf.friend@ucl.ac.uk I do have a web-site http://www.friendofopenaccess.org.uk which I use to “fight the cause” for good open access policies, although I am not efficient about keeping the web-site up-to-date and I do not have the technical expertise to make it very attractivehttp://www.friendofopenaccess.org.uk Finally, I wish you well in your careers and in your work for open access