EUROPEAN RESEARCH COUNCIL : HIGH PRICE JOURNALS RISK STIFLING PROGRESS, ACCORDING TO ERC.

The European Research Council has come out strongly in favour of "open access" to research results, in a statement published by the scientists responsible for directing its work.

In the statement, the Scientific Council of the ERC, which is a new body set up to fund basic research under the 7th Framework Programme, stresses its belief that in general research results should be made publicly available, in open access repositories, "reasonably soon" after their original publication in a scientific journal. This is something that should occur no later than twelve months after the original publication date, and ideally would happen within six months of this.

The justification and need for such an approach, according to the Scientific Council, stems from the prices that researchers have to pay to obtain these scientific journals. The statement notes that, while the valuable role played by journals in certifying the quality of scientific research is not in doubt, the "high prices" of some of them "raise significant worries concerning the ability of the system to deliver wide access", with a consequent risk of "stifling further scientific progress". The Scientific Council, which is made up of 22 high level researchers and is responsible for supervising the work of the ERC (see separate article), also notes that these high prices "do not seem to be chiefly driven by cost considerations".

FP7 TASK FORCE

As for the results of research carried out by the ERC itself, the scientists express...