The consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics (SCOAP) has negotiated that nearly all particle-physics articles will be immediately free on journal websites from 2014. This impacts researchers, meaning individual groups will not need to arrange open publication of their work. Peter Suber an advocate of open access stated "It is the most systematic attempt to convert all the journals in a given field to open access"(Nature|News, Sept 2012) To read further go to

A recent report on Open Access predicts that over the next 10 years the proportion of Open Access articles is likely to increase by 15-50%. The scale of the shift will depend on national and international policy decisions.

Libraries have a key role to play in making Open Access articles discoverable by the use of metadata and managing institutional repositories.

UQ Library is a proud member of the Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) . Originally formed over a decade ago, SPARC aimed to:

In The Conversation on the 26th September 2012, Alex O. Holcombe and Matthew Todd published an open letter to the Australian Research Council on why scientific data should be shared.

Hindawi Publishing Corporation founded in 1997, was the first subscription publisher to convert its entire portfolio of journals to Open Access. Now in 2012, publishing over 400 open access journals. This interview with Ahmed Hindawi provides an insight into the development of open access journals. The interview is available on Richard Poynder blog Open and Shut.

Researchers and students please take note of the following comment submitted to Beall's List of Predatory, Open-Access Publishers blog:

The NHMRC revised policy for the dissemination of research findings came into effect on 1 July 2012. The policy has been revised to ensure that the findings of publicly funded health and medical research are made publicly available as soon as possible. Therefore, the NHMRC requires that any publications arising from an NHMRC supported research project must be deposited into an open access institutional repository within a twelve month period from the date of publication.

Allen Press has produced a 2012 Study of Subscription Prices for Scholarly Society Journals based on historical prices over the past two years from 220 journals and survey findings from 20 society/association publishers. The study reveals how libraries are dealing with the present budget challenges and the consequences for scholarly publishers.

In what could be an about-face for the Australian Research Council, new chief executive Aidan Byrne is re-examining the organisation's stance on open-access publications.
Read the full article by Luke Le Grand in The Australian.

The European Commission's recent announcement on access to scientific data specifically mentions not only scientists and research institutions, but also members of the public as potential users of scientific data.