According to a new plan from the UK's government, 2014 is set to be the year of open access, reports The Guardian's Ian Sample. The government has unveiled a plan to make publicly funded research immediately available to the public for free within the next two years, Sample says. The papers will be put online, and universities, companies, and individuals all over the world will be able to access the studies. The UK is also hoping that this plan will prompt other European countries to adopt similar measures, Sample says.
However, while most researchers were happy with the plan, some scientists Sample spoke to said they didn't like the idea of the £50 million annual transition costs being taken out of the UK's existing budget for research funding. "British universities now pay around £200m a year in subscription fees to journal publishers, but under the new scheme, authors will pay 'article processing charges' (APCs) to have their papers peer reviewed, edited and made freely available online," Sample says. "The typical APC is around £2,000 per article."