Plan S


Observing open access


Achieving change forces us to embrace new initiatives that renew our progress, writes Daniel Hook


A


s a quantum theorist by training, I was taught early in my career that observation is not a passive act


and that by measuring a physical system you cause it to change.


It turns out that it is not just quantum


systems that are sensitive to being measured – human systems also change when you measure them. By measuring a quantum system, the change that you make is profound, forcing the system into a definite quantum state that is determined by the nature of the measurement that you make. Measurements of human systems precipitate less instantaneous change than in the quantum case, but are no less profound in how they change the system under observation. Measurement can be a powerful tool,


since it can help bring about change. Equally, we must be careful about what we measure. Arguably the whole Responsible Metrics movement was born from the realisation that measurements are not necessarily used positively in the research system. A preoccupation with reductionism, ranking and overly simplistic approaches by all sorts of actors across the system can lead to unintended consequences. Here, we look at one case where measurements can be used as a positive force to help to change behaviours. In a recent report from Digital Science,


based on data from Dimensions, we argued that open access has progressed due to ongoing waves of innovation that force the field forward, rather than through a quiet measured attrition. In countries where there is less will for progress, and hence fewer drivers for change, we see less rapid development. We have seen


22 Research Information April/May 2019


waves of initiatives that are not linked to a specific geography and which benefited the development of open access globally. Typically, these are the creation of new platforms or new technologies, for example: the launch of arXiv in August 1991; the foundation of RePEc in 1997; the establishment of PLOS in 2000; and, the creation of PeerJ in 2013, to name just a few. At the other end of the scale, we have seen many institutional initiatives with investments in digital repositories, and the creation of institutional mandates being the most obvious. However, it is not until more recently


that we have seen the emergence of truly international efforts to coordinate OA. The emergence of Plan S, through cOAlition S, is the newest wave of innovation that seeks to break through the impasse that has developed in some countries. In our report, we observed the US had faltered in its progress toward increasing


60% 55% 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20%


2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 UK Germany US


Figure 1: Development of percentage of national output through open access channels from 2000 to 2016 for Germany, the UK and the US. Data from Dimensions


@researchinfo | www.researchinformation.info


OA, levelling off at around 42 per cent of overall publication output through OA channels in both 2012 and 2016. Of course, it will be several years until Plan S is implemented and we still don’t know how it will finally be realised. However, with recent progress in Germany on Projekt DEAL and the new guidelines from REF 2021, it is clear that not only are both the UK and Germany travelling toward an open future, but also that, since those two countries are among the most collaborative in the world after the US, there are many countries who benefit from the stance taken by those with a progressive agenda. The UK’s overall percentage of OA


content has grown rapidly, outpacing both Germany and the US in recent years. Figure 1 makes it clear that the UK’s approach to policy around OA has paid dividends. This is not to say that


“There are many countries who benefit from the stance taken by those with a progressive agenda”


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