The International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM) has welcomed the detailed and balanced views expressed by the Council of the European Union in its recently published Conclusions on Scientific Information. The Association has stated that the Conclusions recognise the role and investments made by scientific publishers in the organisation of peer review, management of publication processes, and production, access, distribution, preservation and digitisation of scientific knowledge.
According to the statement, STM and its member companies have been at the forefront of experimentation into new forms and models of digital dissemination. As a co-founding signatory of the Alliance for the Preservation of the Records of Science in Europe, STM also supports the Council recommendations on the need for preservation of scientific outputs.
STM applauds an emphasis in the Conclusions on the need for economic sustainability in respect of new business models. However, it is disappointed that the clear connection between investment in scientific research, the concomitant growth in the volume of that research and the inevitable need for greater investment in scientific information provision was not made. Throughout the EU, spending on research publications represents less than 1 percent of the spending on research.
More News in this Theme
