Australia’s open-access challenge

As librarians charge ahead with deals, a national open-access strategy is on the cards

Earlier this year, Australia’s chief scientist, Cathy Foley, lamented that the country “lags [behind] some other nations in regard to open access”.

Foley told a gathering of Australia’s National Press Club in March that being able to easily access information “is the great enabler for innovation and for research commercialisation”, but she stressed that more than half of Australian academic papers need a payment for access, with papers costing up to A$50 each to do so.