Open Access Archivangelism

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SUMMARY: The Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) has made a deal with Springer that articles by VSNU authors will be made OA. But Springer is already on the side of the angels on OA, being completely Green on immediate, unembargoed author OA self-archiving. Hence all VSNU authors are already free to deposit their refereed final drafts of their Springer articles in their institutional repositories, without requiring any further permission or payment. So what in addition is meant by the VSNU deal with Springer? that the Springer PDF rather than the author's final draft can be deposited? That Springer does the deposit on VSNU authors' behalf? Or is this a deal for prepaid hybrid Gold OA? In the case of Springer articles, it seems that what the Netherlands lacked was not the right to make them OA, but the mandate (from the VSNU universities and Netherlands' research funders like NWO) to make them OA. There are some signs, however, that this too might be on the way...

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In a press release entitled "Dutch higher education sector convinced of need for Open Access," the SURF Foundation in the Netherlands wrote:

"The Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) has reached agreement with Springer that in 2010 all articles by Dutch researchers in Springer journals will be made available Open Access, subject to the author agreeing. Other publishers too are providing opportunities for Open Access publication because they are following Springer in allowing researchers to arrange for Open Access when publishing their articles. Almost all publishers already allow researchers to upload the definitive author's version of their article to their institution's repository."

It would be very helpful if SURF or VSNU could explain a little more clearly what this means:

(1) Is it that VSNU has made a deal with Springer (as University of California has done) that articles by VSNU authors will be made OA?

(2) How will those articles be made OA?

Springer is already on the side of the angels, being completely Green on immediate, unembargoed author OA self-archiving. In other words, VSNU authors are all already free to deposit their refereed final drafts of their Springer articles in their institutional repositories, without requiring any further permission or payment.

Hence it is unclear what, over and above this, is meant by (1)? that the Springer PDF rather than the author's final draft can be deposited? That Springer does the deposit on author's behalf? Or is this a deal for prepaid hybrid Gold OA?

It is important to raise these questions, because in the case of Springer articles, it seems that what the Netherlands lacked was not the right to make them OA, but the mandate (from the VSNU universities and Netherlands' research funders like NWO) to make them OA.

"One problem for scientists and scholars is the need to publish in prestigious and expensive journals so as to receive a good rating, which is important when applying for grants from organisations such as the NWO. Prof. Engelen said that the NWO would investigate ways of ensuring that publications in Open Access would count more significantly towards the author's 'impact factor.'"

Does this mean that Springer articles should now count more for NWO than they do now? Why? Should it not be the quality standards of each journal that determine how much it counts for NWO? (And also, of course, the citation impact of each article itself.)

Is being OA supposed to make an article count more? Why? (Especially since making an article OA has already been shown to increase its citation impact?)

Is this not the usual error, of assuming that "OA" means "published in a Gold OA journal" -- and assuming also that Gold OA journals are new journals, and have to compete with established journals in order to demonstrate their quality standards?

If so, why should any journal count more just because it is Gold OA?

And what about Green OA, which any Netherlands author can already provide for their articles, and especially with Springer articles, which already have Springer's endorsement for Green OA?

Green OA is already based on each journal's quality standards and track-record. No special preferential treatment is required.

"Paul Doop – a member of the board of Amsterdam University and Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, and chair of the ICT and Research platform board of SURFfoundation – argued that the problem could be solved by including a provision for mandatory Open Access in collective labour agreements."

This is certainly one possible way to mandate OA. Or, better, each VSNU university could simply adopt a policy, as over 100 universities worldwide have already done, that requires the deposit of all institutional refereed research output in the institution's repository.

But this has nothing whatsoever to do with the "problem" of making new Gold OA journals "count" more than they have earned with their quality standards, just as every other journal has done. Indeed, mandating Green OA has nothing to do with Gold OA journals at all (except that all Gold OA journals are also Green!)

"Many of those attending the seminar thought that was going too far. Prof. Engelen said, however, that his organisation was keeping close track of developments and that if insufficient progress had been made in a year’s time, the NWO would see whether it could make Open Access obligatory, as its sister organisations in the United Kingdom and the United States have already done."

This would be splendid. And I hope NWO will not wait so long to do what the US and UK (and many other countries) are already doing.

But it would be helpful if the very timely and commendable plan to mandate Green OA in the Netherlands is not conflated with the completely different question of paying for Gold OA, or with trying to make Gold OA journal articles "count" more.

Stevan Harnad
American Scientist Open Access Forum