“Nudging” researchers toward Gold Open Access will delay the shift to wider access of research

UK research is being conceived by the UK Government as if it were primarily an investment in the journal publishing industry rather than in research productivity and impact, argues Stevan Harnad. Since the new UK open access policy was announced, more and longer embargoes have been adopted by publishers. Rather than a focus on revenue streams, more attention should be placed on institutional adoption of a mechanism for verifying compliance with the OA policy, and in particular, its Green archiving option.