Morning on Open Access Gold model
A half-day session on the Open Access Gold model was organised on 19 January this year, at the Institut Henri Poincaré, Paris. The meeting, an initiative of the French Physical Society [SFP], was the first step in launching a discussion on the changing business models of French physics publications.
The event opened with an introduction to an innovative business model, SCOAP3, by CERN’s Jens Vigen; this was followed by a presentation on the current situation at the European Commission [EC], by the EC Open Access Policy Officer, Jean-François Dechamp.
In addition, points of view were given by two of the principal French research organisations, the CEA and the INIST-CNRS, represented by Catherine Cesarsky and Serge Bauin respectively; three European publishers, EDP Sciences, IOP Publishing, and Springer; and the European Physical Society [EPS], represented by EPS president Luisa Cifarelli, who detailed the EPS position, as laid out in the 2009 position paper on Open Access, while adding her personal views.
The morning gathered an attendance of around 130 librarians and scientists. The large number of questions posed, and the animated discussion which followed each presentation, makes it clear that the paradigm shift in publishing business models definitely concerns and interests the whole physics community.
A sustainable model, however, taking into account all concerns, is far from being ready. Various current initiatives, which offer partial solutions, will be invaluable in offering insight for the second-generation Open Access approach.
For more information, including the presentations given at the meeting, please visit the Open Access Gold website.
