What people are saying about COPE

  • Paul Courant, University of Michigan Librarian and Dean of Libraries: “We are participating because we recognize the importance of open-access journals. Our goal is to provide the broadest possible access to the scholarly record and join our colleagues in an important effort to examine new economic models for scholarly publishing.”
  • Kent Fuchs, Cornell Provost: “As part of its social commitment as a research university, Cornell strives to ensure that scholarly research results are as widely available as possible. The Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity could increase access to scholarly literature while at the same time ensuring that the valuable services that publishers provide are supported.”
  • Philip J. Hanlon, University of Michigan Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs: “The University of Michigan recognizes the value of open access to scholarly works, and we are proud to join other leading universities in this innovative approach to supporting open-access publication. Ultimately, it can both reduce our own costs for journal acquisition and can help ensure that the work of our faculty is disseminated as broadly as possible.”
  • Rolf Heuer, CERN Director General: "We welcome every open access initiative that improves access, and fosters reuse, while recognizing the role of scientific publishing. Our synergy with COPE reflects this shared vision."
  • Peter Lange, Duke University Provost: “By establishing this fund, we hope to support the university's commitment to promoting openness as an important value in scholarship. Increased open access means more opportunities for the research of our faculty and researchers to reach a wide audience and have a meaningful impact on the world.”
  • Thomas C. Leonard, UC Berkeley University Librarian: “Publishers and researchers know that it has never been easier to share the best work they produce with the world. But they also know that their traditional business model is creating new walls around discoveries. Universities can really help take down these walls and the open-access compact is a highly significant tool for the job.”
  • James Neal, Columbia Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian: “The growth of this new strategy for support for high quality scholarly communication in the expanding number of open access journals requires our participation and support.”
  • Rafael Reif, MIT President: “The dissemination of research findings to the public is not merely the right of research universities: it is their obligation. Open-access publishing promises to put more research in more hands and in more places around the world. This is a good enough reason for universities to embrace the guiding principles of this compact.”
  • Barry P. Scherr, Dartmouth Provost: “Supporting open-access publishing is an important step in increasing readership of Dartmouth research and, ultimately, the impact of our research on the world.”
  • Kevin L. Smith, Duke University Scholarly Communications Officer: The goal of COPE is not to subsidize any particular publication or researcher, but rather “to remove potential barriers to publishing in open access venues. The idea is to prevent publication-side fees from inhibiting authors who see open access to their work as a benefit.”