Options for Administrative Efficiencies in OA Implementation: Final Report to Jisc, Open Access Good Practice Pathfinder Project

The Jisc funded ‘OA Good Practice project’ was launched in 2014, running for two years. It aimed to reduce the burden on HEIs in implementing funders’ OA requirements through enabling universities, working with others both within and beyond the sector, to develop improvements in IT tools, standards and services, and the related workflows and organisational arrangements for OA implementation
A suite of nine institutional Pathfinder projects were commissioned to find out what works best in implementing OA, in a variety of institutions across the sector, and to share this knowledge openly
The GW4 Pathfinder project aimed to investigate efficiencies in the administrative overheads involved throughout the lifecycle of OA implementation, specifically:
a. To investigate the use of pre-pay bundles, deposit accounts, credit cards, voucher codes and individual invoicing to reduce workflows and finance transactions in HEIs. We briefly assessed the wider market effects of pre-payment bundles, and produced sample workflows for payment scenarios.
b. Options for streamlining administrative processes by providing guidance on reporting requirements for RCUK and HEFCE Open Access reporting, particularly mapping points of overlap between various submissions to funders.
c. To follow the development of off-setting models and providing a state-of-play update for communities using these models.