I have been concerned that the quality of Open Access provided by publishers is often unacceptable. I started at the top of the list – Elsevier – and found 4 articles behind paywalls. (There may be more – I haven’t done all 418 – volunteers would be welcome). That’s totally unacceptable to me and most people.

It’s not totally unacceptable to Elsevier. It’s “bumpy road on the shared journey”. I call this “mumble”. Elsevier’s Directorate of Access and Policy (was Universal Access)  produces a great deal of mumble.

I doubt Elsevier has apologised to any authors

I doubt Elsevier has refunded them any money

I doubt Elsevier has communicated with the funder (Wellcome Trust).

The more I ask, the more I get mumble. I have lost all trust in Elsevier to produce accurate OpenAccess or give clear accurate information.

So we have to resort to other methods:

• write to your parliamentary representative (I have)
• Blog and tweet problems (I have)
• Inform funders (I have communicated with Robert Kiley of Wellcome Trust)
• Report Elsevier to trading standards (I can’t unless I have an author who has paid money)

and

• Ask Universities to provide information on exactly what they paid Elsevier for APCs and for what.

So I tweeted this idea. It’s something that University libraries could and should do. I could and maybe will find out through FOI though I’d rather they did it voluntarily. One or two Universities seemed to catch on so I tweeted:

This statement staggered me.

If I were a librarian I would be outraged.

Elsevier says it is better than them at knowing what APCs have been paid and whether the article is paywalled. My simple research over the last week has shown vast errors in Elsevier’s system and arrogant complacency.

But I try to be a fair person and I try to avoid mumble so here is a simple clear question to the DoAP.

Please give me a machine-readable list of all articles Elsevier published in 2012-2013  for which there was an APC.

Elsevier should have done this publicly already.

Only a machine readable list (like the one that Wellcome Trust have provided) will do. The following are NOT acceptable:

• “search for ‘open access’ in our ScienceDirect API.” (PMR I don’t trust Elsevier’s system to be 100% correct).
• “Wait until we have fixed it in ‘summer 2014′”. They’ve taken a MILLION POUNDS. They should have a record. Maybe the UK tax office would like to know their income?
• Mumble

But Elsevier says it’s more efficient than Libraries.

Libraries can you counter this by providing lists of APCs you paid to Elsevier? And we’ll see if any are behind paywalls.