Government policy-makers and private funding agencies in the US, UK and Europe are mandating greater public access to published scientific research. In this connection, Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), a not-for-profit organisation and provider of licensing and content solutions, has announced that it endorses the UK-based Research Information Network's (RIN) call for cooperation among funders, universities and publishers. CCC has been helping publishers improve the author experience with respect to the collection of article processing charges for over five years, and welcomes efforts towards standardisation and transparency.
RIN issued a report last week urging stakeholders to 'work together to ensure that progress is as smooth as possible toward creating the systems and processes that enable the payment of Open Access article processing charges (APCs), while meeting the costs of publication.' The Wellcome Trust and Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) commissioned the RIN study on behalf of the Open Access Implementation Group. In the paper, author Michael Jubb specifically identified several 'core' functionalities that publishers and funders should require of any APC solution.
CCC's Open Access Solutions include secure tools for managing author publication charges, as well as colour charges, page charges and reprint orders. RightsLink users have 24/7 access to these tools, including reporting and customer service.
CCC is said to make it easier for publishers to charge different open access fees pre-publication based on variables such as author affiliation/membership, funding source and journal type; and communicate publisher-specific reuse rights post-publication to users seeking permissions for all content, including open access articles. Additionally, it helps capture valuable data about user interest in and reuse of publishers' open access publications; and provides the ability for publishers to add RightsLink to their content wherever it resides online, even in third-party repositories such as HighWire or PubMed Central.
