CERN signs Berlin Declaration

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has expressed a firm commitment to supporting Open Access.

CERN and the University of Pavia (Italy) added their names to the list of 38 organizations that have signed the Berlin Declaration. The signatures were announced during a meeting at CERN's Geneva headquarters in May. The meeting was coordinated by the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) and other Max Planck Institutions, and aimed to discuss implementation of the recommendations of the 'Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities', which was initiated last October (see Open Access Now, November 17, 2003).

"Fifty years ago twelve European countries adopted the Convention of CERN, which was the results of the vision of scientists and politicians from Europe and around the world," noted Robert Aymar, the organization's Director-General during his opening address. "The Convention requires openness, stipulating the results of CERN's experimental and theoretical work shall be published or otherwise made generally available."

It is only fitting that CERN should join the organizations encouraging the use of the Internet to bring Open Access to the scientific literature; CERN gave birth to the World Wide Web 15 years ago through the work of CERN scientists Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau. Researchers at CERN are currently working on the development of Grid Computing, which will allow physicists around the world to access data from the Organization's Large Hadron Collider.

Many feel that CERN's signing of the Berlin Declaration is an important step. CERN is one of the most distinguished European research institutes and is the first signatory that is inter-governmental. The University of Pavia is the first Italian university to sign the Declaration, which already has support from major research organizations in France, Germany, the UK, India and China.

The Geneva meeting saw the proposition of a 'Roadmap Proposal' by members of the Max Planck Society. The Roadmap outlines legal, technical and infrastructure requirements that are necessary for implementation of Open Access recommendations.

The closing address at the meeting was given by Adama Samassekou, who represented the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS; see the Feature Interview in this edition of Open Access Now). "In a world of open access, knowledge is a connecting rather than a dividing factor between different cultures," said Samassekou. "We have to counteract the danger of a knowledge divide blooming from the present practice of commercial scholarly communication. What we need instead is open access as a model for a new, open-minded way of thinking, the only way to address the global challenges emerging from the divide between rich and less rich societies."

www.zim.mpg.de/openaccess-berlin
www.zim.mpg.de/openaccess-cern

Wellcome report says Open Access will significantly reduce publishing costs

The Wellcome Trust, the UK's leading biomedical research charity, published a report at the end of April showing for the first time that the Open Access model of scientific publishing is economically viable, guarantees high quality research and is a sustainable publishing option. The report claims that making scientific research available free on the Internet could cut the costs of scientific publishing by as much as 30%.

The Wellcome Trust has played an active role in the debate about Open Access. Last year the Trust published a report that was critical of the current system of scientific publishing (see Open Access Now, November 3, 2003). The earlier report concluded that "the publishing of scientific research does not operate in the interests of scientists and the public, but is instead dominated by a commercial market intent on improving its market position." The new report explores the costs involved in Open Access publishing models.

"The report shows that publishing a research paper in the traditional way costs between £800 and £1,500. Under Open Access the cost is £550 to £1,100," explains Mark Walport, Director of the Trust. "The report shows this is an efficient, affordable and high-quality model sustainable for the long term."

"The results of scientific research must be freely and widely available to help scientists throughout the world make the discoveries we need to improve health," says Walport. "That is why we have supported the principle of open access publishing. But up to now there have been unanswered questions about the economic and practical viability of this system. Our report now shows this is a 'win win' situation: high-quality peer-reviewed research available to everyone free of charge within a sustainable on-line market - plus savings of as much as 30%."

The Wellcome Trust has acknowledged that the Open Access author-pays models will require funding to authors to cover publishing costs. Many Open Access advocates have tried to encourage funding organizations to view publishing as part of the cost of doing research. The Wellcome Trust estimates that the total cost of providing Open Access to research from its own funded scientists would add an additional 1% to the costs of research. The Wellcome Trust funds around £400 million worth of research each year.

Writing in the Financial Times, Walport notes that the switch to Open Access is sure to encounter opposition. "Changes to an established system that seems superficially to work well will not be straightforward, especially since scientific, technical and medical publishing is part of a business worth about £22 billion a year. But the point of medical research is to improve health, helped by the widest possible dissemination of results."

Walport says that the report contradicts figures quoted by commercial publishers and raises questions about how much profit should be made in publishing scientific research. He urges the UK government committee currently scrutinizing scientific publishing to look favourably on Open Access. "I hope committee members will see how much everyone has to gain by supporting open access publishing."

www.wellcome.ac.uk/publications