Open Access Policy for SA institutions

1. 1
Policy driving Open Access
to research
NMMU Open Access Seminar
Ina Smith
27 July 2015

2. Agenda
• Berlin Declaration
• What is “policy”?
• Why “Open Access policy”?
• Status of Open Access policies
• Open Access at ASSAf
• Open Access policy for a higher education
institution

3. About ASSAf (1)
The mission of the Academy is to:
• Recognise scholarly achievement and
excellence in the application of scientific
thinking for the benefit of society;
• Mobilise Members to ensure that they are
available to contribute their expertise in
the service of society;

4. About ASSAf (2)
• Conduct systematic and evidence-based
studies on issues of national importance,
producing authoritative reports that have
significant impact on policy-making;
• Promote the development of an
indigenous system of South African
research publications, increasing their
quality, visibility, accessibility and impact;

5. About ASSAf (3)
• Publish science focused periodicals that
will showcase the best of southern African
research to a wide national and
international audience;
• Develop productive partnerships with
national, regional and international
organisations with a view to building our
capacity in science and its application
within the National System of Innovation
(NSI);

6. About ASSAf (4)
• Create diversified sources of funding for
sustainable functioning and growth of a
national academy;
• Communicate effectively with relevant
stakeholders through various media and
fora.

7. Berlin Declaration
• BBB – Budapest Open Access Initiative,
Bethesda Statement, Berlin Statement
• Berlin = 516 (17 SA)
• Active commitment
• Two conditions …..

8. Berlin Declaration (1)
“The author(s) and right holder(s) of such
contributions grant(s) to all users a free,
irrevocable, worldwide, right of access to,
and a license to copy, use, distribute,
transmit and display the work publicly and
to make and distribute derivative works, in
any digital medium for any responsible
purpose, subject to proper attribution of
authorship …”

9. Berlin Declaration (2)
“A complete version of the work and all
supplemental materials, including a copy of
the permission as stated above, in an
appropriate standard electronic format is
deposited (and thus published) in at least
one online repository using suitable
technical standards …”

10. What is “policy”?
“A definite course or method of action
selected (by governments, institutions,
groups, individuals) from among alternatives
and in light of given conditions to guide and
determine present and future decisions.”
“A high-level overall plan embracing the
general goals and acceptable procedures
especially of a governmental body.”
(Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)

11. Policy = Principles + Objectives + Decisions
Policy = Decision-making framework to
achieve a desired outcome, in the interest
of a specific community
Policy = Response to the changing world we
find ourselves in
Policy needs to be aligned
1
2
3
4

12. Policy = Followed by procedures, guidelines,
processes, planning
Policy = Strategic & long term; Planning =
operational within specific timeframes
Policies change, needs to be revisited,
adapted in line with change
Policy can be enforced
5
6
7
8

13. Stages of Policy Process (John W Kingdon)
Problem
Identification
Policy
Formulatio
n
Policy
Adoption
Policy
Implement
ation
Policy
Evaluation
Policy Advisory Committee
Terms of Reference

14. Why “Open Access Policy”?
• Principle: Right to access information
(Bill of Rights)
• Problem: High subscription costs & research
funded with tax payer’s money
• Objective: To open up access to
information funded with tax payer’s money

15. Policy implementations promoting OA
Source: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002158/215863e.pdf

16. Policy implementations promoting OA
Source: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002158/215863e.pdf

17. Policy implementations promoting OA
Source: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002158/215863e.pdf

18. Coalitions eg United States

19. Open Access policies resource
http://roarmap.eprints.org

20. Status of Open Access policies

21. Status of Open Access policies in
Africa

22. Status of Open Access policies in SA
7

23. NRF Open Access Statement

24. NRF Open Access Statement
“From 01 March 2015, authors of research
papers generated from research either fully or
partially funded by NRF, when submitting and
publishing in academic journals, should deposit
their final peer-reviewed manuscripts that have
been accepted by the journals, to the
administering Institution Repository with an
embargo period of no more than 12 months.”
+ data sets

25. DHET Research Outputs Policy 2015
(funding for accredited journal titles)

26. DHET Research Outputs Policy 2015
(funding for accredited journal titles)
quality

27. Open Access at ASSAf

28. Selected ASSAf SPU initiatives
• SciELO SA Journal Indexing (incl. WoS)
• National Site Licensing
• Journal & Monograph Peer-Reviews
• South African Journal of Science, Quest
• Other: SA Journal Audit, Journal
Management Service (OJS), DOIs, ORCID,
Wiki on Scholarly Publishing, Digital
Preservation Strategy, Webinars, National
Code of Best Practice

29. UNESCO Open Access Policy
Africa initiative
“UNESCO indicated that they are prepared to
play a consultative role, and work with African
countries interested in working towards a
national Open Access policy. It was in this regard
that the Academy of Science of South Africa
(ASSAf) submitted a letter to Dr Bhanu Neupane,
Programme Specialist in Paris, France to express
it interest to participate.”
Consultative Forum on Open Access (OA): Towards
high level interventions for research and
development in Africa
29 & 30 January 2015, Kenya

30. UNESCO Open Access Policy
Africa initiative
+ ASSAf CSPiSA

31. Guidelines to an effective Open
Access policy
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/hoap/Good_practices_for_university_open-access_policies

32. Alma Swan – Policy Guidelines for the development and promotion of open access
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002158/215863e.pdf

33. Thank you
ina@assaf.org.za
SciELO Planning Manager
Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)