Open Access: Current Status, AAS Perspectives

Open Access, defined as the free provision of information by science publishers, is not likely to be mandated by law anytime soon in the United States. A collaborative effort, initiated by the House Science Committee, to come to some consensus within the scientific publishing enterprise has resulted in the release of the so-called “Roundtable Recommendations”. These will serve as a working model moving forward on fundamental shared starting points for both publishers and authors as well as the Open Access community. The AAS’ delayed open access model for publishing is flexible, supportive of our discipline and equitably distributes the cost of publishing to authors and readers. The AAS can support this flexible model because it is not dependent on journal revenues for the support of its member-focused activities.