The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has criticised Research Councils UK (RCUK) for failures in communicating its policy on open access. In a report published on 22 February the peers recommended that RCUK clarify its guidance, communicate it more clearly, and monitor implementation.1

RCUK’s policy on open access is to make peer reviewed journal articles resulting from work funded by its councils available online at no cost to readers.2 The House of Lords committee, which scrutinises government policy on science and technology, carried out an inquiry into the policy after researchers and publishers raised concerns about a lack of clarity, limitations on academic freedom to publish, funding for publication fees, and the speed of the transition to …