Press release
Free access to research results is good business
Denmark could make millions if researchers at universities and educational institutions made their reports freely available online. This is the conclusion of a new report from DEFF; Denmark’s Electronic Research Library.
Currently, most research results are published in scientific journals run by commercial publishers, but the results would reach a much broader audience if access were free. This would make research act as a knowledge dynamo, supporting the further development within the segment of small businesses. The study shows that open access to research would yield societal benefits worth DKK 300 million annually (approx. EUR 40 million).
“It’s common sense to make publicly funded research freely available online so we can all benefit from it,” says Mai Buch, chairwoman of DEFF. “Currently, you have to pay to gain access to the newest knowledge in research, and that’s why we don’t benefit from the large public investments in research. Knowledge and innovation are Denmark’s most important raw materials and open access to research results will contribute to a larger dissemination and therefore a better utilisation of those raw materials.”
The DEFF study was conducted by Professor John Houghton, head of Centre for Strategic Economic Studies at Victoria University, Melbourne. He has done similar work for Australia, the Netherlands, and the UK.
Denmark is among the countries who have committed to the promotion of the EU policy of free online access to research results. The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation has recently appointed an Open Access Committee to plan how Denmark can live up to the European Council’s conclusions on the access to scientific information in the digital age. The committee will also examine how publicly funded research can become publicly available and the economic consequences.
The committee is composed of members of the DEFF steering group as well as representatives from the Danish University and Property Agency, Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, and The Council for Protection of Intellectual Property. The Open Access Committee’s recommendations are expected to be ready in 2010.
For more information, please contact:
Head of department, Jakob Heide Petersen, jhp@bibliotekogmedier.dk,
Phone +45 33 73 33 51, mobile +45 41 27 11 51
COO, Bo Öhrström, boe@bibliotekogmedier.dk,
Phone +45 33 73 33 97, mobile +45 21 42 67 97
