FEP concerned about European Council's calls for 'unrestricted' Open Access

The Federation of European Publishers (FEP) is concerned the European Council’s calls “for immediate and unrestricted open access in publishing research involving public funds” disregard the role of commercial publishers and the contribution they make to the dissemination of science. 

Today (23rd May) the Council called on the European Commission and the member states to “support policies towards a scholarly publishing model that is not-for-profit, open access and multi-format, with no costs for authors or readers”. It said: “The costs of paywalls to access and publish articles are becoming unsustainable and the publication channels for researchers are frequently in the hands of private companies, which often control the intellectual property of the articles. The peer review of articles is essential to assure the quality control of the articles, but this process comes with challenges such as increased numbers of submissions and reviewers’ fatigue. There is also an issue with predatory and questionable publishing practices.” 

Responding to the news the FEP reaffirmed “the vital role of scholarly publishers in the research ecosystem”. It said in a statement: “Academic publishing requires specific competencies, infrastructures, and continuous, substantial investment, to ensure the efficient dissemination of trustworthy research among academic communities and beyond. Publishers provide the stewardship necessary to preserve the scholarly record, take responsibility for it, and bring the innovation in technologies and standards necessary to help solve common challenges, especially around fraudulent science.” 

It stressed academic publishers have made “significant investments” to “accompany and facilitate the digital transition in the scholarly domain” highlighting the “crucial role” the private sector plays “in offering a broad range of different routes to publication, including in the interests of freedom of research".

“Independent businesses are free to allow a multitude of scholarly voices to be heard and views to be expressed, beyond the influence of governments, something that has proven to be particularly important in the fields of the social and political sciences” it said.  

“European publishers are supportive of Open Access, based on the co-existence of various models, provided that they remain voluntary and flexible, in order to ensure the viability and diversity of the ecosystem, and that they respect freedom to publish and copyright. Publishers support a plurality of models that take into account the specifics of the different contexts (such as different languages, disciplines, company sizes).”