The British Academy calls for a national strategy for longform open access

The British Academy has today launched a report calling for a joined-up strategy, a sustainable financial model and meaningful engagement with authors when it comes to developing longform open access (OA).

The report by Information Power, commissioned by the Academy, focused on “Green” OA and is one of the first comprehensive analyses of both qualitative and quantitative data on the depositing, discoverability, and use of longform OA materials in repositories.

These new findings show Green OA for longform works is contested and not yet mature in practice. There is support in the sector for OA, but without a national strategic framework and cross-sector coordination progress will remain slow and fragmented.

Professor Lindsay Farmer FBA, Publishing lead for the British Academy said,

“Open access is vital to improve the accessibility of academic text and to bring knowledge and understanding to more people but, sadly, this report is yet more evidence that the systems are not currently in place to make it work.

“Research England made the right call in 2024 to exclude OA for books for the 2029 Research Excellence Framework (REF). However, if we are going to be ready for the target of including longform publications in the next REF cycle the work needs to start now.

“We want the institutions, publishers, policy makers, academic, libraries, funders and everyone else involved in meeting this long-term ambition to work together on a plan.

This means a national strategy for longform OA, a conversation about funding challenges and solutions, and a clear approach to make sure no academics are left behind because of these changes”.

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