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 publishers—whether commercial or not-for-profit—should be able to generate revenues to meet the costs of those services they provide that are valued by researchers and their readers.

6.13. Some subscription-based journals—particularly in medicine and the life sciences—generate significant proportions of their income in addition from membership fees, advertising, the sale of reprints, and other sources. Similarly, open access journals may have sources of income other than APCs, in the form of fees from membership schemes and so on. The scale of the market means, however, that advertising and similar sources are unlikely to generate significant amounts of revenue for more than a small minority of journals. Hence business models are likely to be built around moneys provided either by authors or readers, or those who provide funds on their behalf.

E. Costs and affordability for research funders

6.14. We have noted earlier that the great majority of funding to support research comes from Government and its agencies—primarily the Higher Education Funding Councils and the Research Councils—along with significant levels of funding from the research charities such as the Wellcome Trust. We have also noted that the overall costs of publishing and providing access to research publications have tended to rise over recent decades, but that they constitute a relatively small proportion of the total costs of research. Nevertheless, this criterion focuses attention on the need to ensure that costs are kept in check, and that the funds to support research communications in general, and increasing access to research publications in particular, are employed to best effect, both during a period of transition and for the longer term.

6.15. Assessment of the costs of different mechanisms and scenarios is therefore of critical importance in considering the most effective ways to increase access. We are also conscious of the current constraints on public expenditure, and also the different types of funding mix available in different subject/disciplinary areas. It is unlikely that significant increases in access—particularly to the publications from researchers outside the UK and for the benefit of people outside the HE and research sectors—can be achieved without some additional funding, or diversions from existing funds, particularly during a transition period; but such increases should be subject to a test of cost-effectiveness. We consider these issues further in the following sections.

6.16. In that context, we have taken account of the unique position of the UK in the global research communications system. As we have noted, researchers in the UK comprise just over 4% of the global research community; but they are responsible—often in collaboration with others from overseas—for over 6% of the publications produced each year. Hence in comparison with other countries, the UK’s