UK research to be open access

Scientists funded by the UK?s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) will soon be obliged to deposit copies of their published articles in an online repository ?at the earliest opportunity,? the council announced today (June 28). The new archiving requirements will apply to papers arising from grant applications submitted on or after October 1st 2006, and for projects funded at BBSRC-sponsored institutes, the council said in a statement on its Web site. The new rules mean that any published journal article or conference proceedings resulting from BBSRC-funded work should be deposited, ?at the earliest opportunity, in an appropriate e-print repository, wherever such a repository is available,? the statement said. The BBSRC decision came as part of a wider position statement published today by Research Councils UK, the umbrella body for all of the UK?s seven research councils, which distribute government funds. That long-awaited policy says that researchers funded by ...