** Apologies for Cross-Posting **

Pertinent Prior AmSci Topic Threads:

    "What Provosts Need to Mandate" (Dec 2003)
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/3240.html

    "Written evidence for UK Select Committee's Inquiry into Scientific
    Publications" (Dec 2003)
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/3263.html

    "University policy mandating self-archiving
    of research output" (Jan 2004)
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/3438.html

    "Mandating OA around the corner?" (Jul 2004)
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/3829.html

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    Serials: The Journal for the Serials Community
    Volume 18, Number 1, 30 - 34 / March 2005
    http://www.uksg.org/

    A mandate to self archive?
    The role of open access institutional repositories

    Stephen Pinfield

    Information Services Hallward Library, University Park,
    University of Nottingham Nottingham NG7 2RD UK +44?(0)?115?951?5109
    Stephen.Pinfield@Nottingham.ac.uk http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~uazsjp/

    Abstract:

    Based on a paper presented at the UKSG seminar 'Scientific
    Publications: Free for all?', The Geological Society, London,
    Tuesday 23 November 2004

    This paper argues that the best way to achieve major improvements
    in scholarly communication in the short and medium term is to make
    it mandatory to deposit research papers in open access institutional
    repositories. This is what the House of Commons Science and Technology
    Committee report of 20041 on scientific publishing recommended. The
    paper defines what open access repositories are and explains why
    they should be institutional. It also deals with the question of
    what should be deposited in institutional repositories and why these
    improve scholarly communication. It then deals with the issue of
    mandating deposition: why deposition should be mandatory, who should
    mandate deposition and who should carry out deposition. The paper
    concludes with an analysis of the wider implications of mandating
    deposition in institutional repositories and a summary of the existing
    situation in the UK and elsewhere. It discusses the Select Committee
    report and the UK Government response in relation to institutional
    repositories.