EU Pushes Puzzling OA Proposal
Edits and insertions to a proposed EU OA policy show a growing realization that things are not going as planned
A new proposed OA policy in the EU has made it further than anticipated, passing various gates to be on the verge of approval. The policy, if adopted, would make any government-funded research report freely available to the public immediately.
However, reading the draft proposal (PDF available at the bottom of the post), it’s a little bewildering, and some edits belie the confidence the most vociferous supporters of OA like to project.
Stepping back from it, I get the impression that the authors are beginning to doubt their own words, that reality is proving more complicated than they care to admit, and that they are sensing a conundrum — that there’s no way to publish more papers of high quality while cutting costs.
It just doesn’t add up — but this time, some doubt it leaking through in the edits.