Academic Funding

The Finch Report on Open Access: Quick Overview

July 2, 2012 5341

The Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings, chaired by Professor Dame Janet Finch, recently published their report on how the UK can move towards Open Access to published scholarly articles.

Read the Report

Read the Executive Summary

The Finch Report largely came out in favor of the UK moving towards what has been called the “Gold Route” – where authors pay to have their research published, and accessing journal articles would be free with the hope that this would expand overall use and access of existing research.

Read articles on the Finch Report:

The Guardian

The Independent

BBC News

Times Higher Education

This report is not without controversy. One particular concern amongst academic researchers is where these new “author fees” would come from, particularly as research grants have lately become smaller and less frequent.

Paul Jump’s critique on the Finch Report’s recommendations

The issue of author fees, and where they will come from, will likely prove to be of particular concern to social science as they often work with fewer funds and more reluctant sources. However, given that the results of social science research often have massive implications for the public, industries, and policy makers, the potential benefit of increased access to social science journals cannot be underestimated.

We will have more on the Finch Report and what it means to the social sciences in the coming days.

Related Articles

Cutting NSF Is Like Liquidating Your Finest Investment
Investment
May 15, 2025

Cutting NSF Is Like Liquidating Your Finest Investment

Read Now
How NIH Funding Works − Until It’s Gone
Investment
May 14, 2025

How NIH Funding Works − Until It’s Gone

Read Now
Valentin-Yves Mudimbe, 1941-2025: The Philosopher on the ‘Invention’ of Africa
Impact
May 7, 2025

Valentin-Yves Mudimbe, 1941-2025: The Philosopher on the ‘Invention’ of Africa

Read Now
Pope Francis, Human Dignity, and the Right to Stay, Migrate and Return
International Debate
May 5, 2025

Pope Francis, Human Dignity, and the Right to Stay, Migrate and Return

Read Now
Christopher Jencks, 1936-2025: An Innovative Voice on Inequality

Christopher Jencks, 1936-2025: An Innovative Voice on Inequality

Christopher Jencks, known for his novel and inventive opinions on hot topic issues like income inequality, homelessness, and racial gaps in standardized […]

Read Now
Rosanna Smart Featured at Mark Kleiman Innovation for Public Policy Memorial Lecture 

Rosanna Smart Featured at Mark Kleiman Innovation for Public Policy Memorial Lecture 

Economist Rosanna Smart, a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School, will be the featured speaker at the 2025 […]

Read Now
Mapping the Connections: Understanding the Network of Social Science Editors-in-Chief 

Mapping the Connections: Understanding the Network of Social Science Editors-in-Chief 

A new study on the connections between editors-in-chief in the social sciences reveals significant geographical and gender imbalances in editorial leadership. Male […]

Read Now
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

4 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Dan Scott

Social Sciences Directory (and, shortly, its sister site Humanities Directory) is a multi-disciplinary journal that uses OJS and is modelled on PLoS ONE. I worked in subscription publishing for and became increasingly disillusioned with the flagrant waste of taxpayers’ money, as well as the many flaws within the publishing system itself – loss of copyright, time-to-publication, peer review, the funding systems etc. There is, in my opinion, a great deal wrong with the system and I want to do something about it. Having set my face against the status quo, I am now encountering at first hand many of the… Read more »