IP protection ‘doesn’t slow research’
Scientific research has not been hindered significantly by a recent proliferation of technology patents and licensing agreements, according to surveys in four countries.
Industry trends
German resolution supports open access and publishers
The Bundesrat, Germany's second parliamentary chamber, has passed a resolution supporting open access and scientific publishing.
Europe’s Digital Library experts focus on copyright
The EU's High Level Expert Group on Digital Libraries has presented an advisory report on copyright issues to the European Commission.
Peer-review quality must be raised, says report
A number of options are available to raise the quality of peer review, according to a new report from the European Science Foundation (ESF).
‘Scientists are wary of open-access journals’
Scientists fear that non-traditional publication could affect their chances of promotion, according to a new study.
UK plans national e-theses service
The UK should have a live, fully-integrated, national electronic theses service within two years, thanks to funding of a new project.
US publishers endorse international STM declaration
The Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) has endorsed the Brussels Declaration on STM Publishing.
Industry groups agree on fundamentals of scholarly communication
The UK's Research Information Network (RIN) has got representative organisations in the UK to agree on major public policy goals for the scholarly communications…
US university presses want to expand open-access discussion
The Association of American University Presses (AAUP) has called for the open-access debate to be opened up to different types of scholarly literature and…
Publishers oppose government mandates
A coalition of 75 nonprofit publishers has made a statement opposing any legislation that would 'abruptly end a publishing system that has nurtured independent…
EC outlines information-access plans
The European Commission has revealed how it intends to help increase and improve access to and dissemination of scientific information.
Open-access petition presented to EC
The petition calling on the European Commission to adopt polices to guarantee free public access to research results has been delivered to the EU…