Open access: evidence-based policy or policy-based evidence? The university press perspective

Based on a paper presented at the UKSG seminar 'Scientific Publications: Free for all?', The Geological Society, London, Tuesday 23 November 2004 Open access has both advocates and sceptics. It could be said that we are still at a 'superstition and witchcraft' state of knowledge: everyone has an opinion, but hard facts are lacking, and few who speak either for, or against, open access can provide detailed evidence for their viewpoints. Oxford Journals is keen to experiment with any new business models that might help us fulfil our mission of maximizing accessibility to research information. The objectives of our experimentation are both to test the long-term financial viability of new models, and also to ensure that they really do achieve wider dissemination than existing models.