Goals for Public Policy – Scholarly Communications Statement of Principles | RIN

The UK’s Research Information Network (RIN) has brought together research institutions, publishers, funders and libraries, who have reached agreement on a statement of “the principles and goals at the heart of the scholarly communications process”. The signatories so far include:

Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP)

The British Library

The Consortium of Research Libraries in the British Isles (CURL)

The International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers

The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)

The Publishers Association

Research Councils UK (RCUK)

The Research Information Network (RIN)

The Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL)

The Wellcome Trust.

The statement can be downloaded as a PDF (8 pages). The organizations have signed up to seven principles, including the aims and quality of research; recognition and reward; dissemination, publication and access; and preservation of printed and digital output.

According to an article in Research Information, “Michael Jubb, director of RIN, admitted that ‘at one level, the statement states the blindingly obvious’, but he was keen to point out that this is the first time that all the major players have agreed on what the goals of scholarly publishing are. ‘The next step is for us all to discuss how best to achieve these goals,’ said Jubb.”