Taylor & Francis: Feedback on UKRI Open Access Review

Taylor & Francis is a strong advocate of Open Research. We welcome the consultation that UKRI have launched for their Open Access Review and the opportunity it gives to engage constructively with UKRI to ensure we establish a sustainable future for research communication.

We have a common goal of shifting the default to Open.  Open Research can benefit society, generate greater academic, social and economic impact and improve research integrity and rigor through greater transparency and efficiency. We support a policy that increases the proportion of research outputs that are immediately available for any interested party to access, whilst ensuring that adequate funding is in place to support their creation, dissemination and curation on an Open basis.

To fully realise the potential of Open Research, however, change needs to occur at all stages of the research cycle. We understand UKRI’s rationale for focusing initially on research outputs but recommend that as part of its communication following the consultation, UKRI provides more information around its plans around changing research culture, including rewards and incentives in institutions.

We also ask that UKRI carefully consider the implications around the proposed OA policy for monographs, book chapters and edited collections, given the need to treat long form content differently to research articles.

We stand ready to work with UKRI and other stakeholders including researchers, institutions and funders to accelerate the transition towards Open, and build on the UK’s leadership in this area.