Publishers in Oxfordshire have shrugged off a European report that the high cost of science journals is 'impeding research progress'.

The report recommended that research funded by the taxpayer should be available free on the Internet.

The authors, economists from Toulouse University and the Free University of Brussels, reported that in the 20 years to 1995 the price of scientific journals rose 300 per cent more than the rate of inflation.

Price increases had since slowed but still were significantly above inflation, said the report.

But Bob Campbell, chairman of Oxford-based Blackwell Publishing, said the report was "outdated and muddled".

He said: "There is nothing very new here. They are trying to please everyone at the same time, so it is rather muddled."

He added: "They have banged on about price increases ten years ago, but the latest data, from the American Research Libraries, shows the real cost of journals has risen by one per cent a year for the past three years."

The report, published this month and open to consultation until the summer, proposes that researchers who receive EU funding should be required to place articles published in subscription journals on web-based archives that can be accessed by everyone for free.

Mr Campbell said traditional Oxfordshire publishers such as Elsevier Science, Blackwell Publishing and Taylor & Francis already allowed authors to publish on the Internet after a time lag, so as not to affect the commercial viability of journals.

"I don't think this report is a huge threat to Oxford publishing," he said.

Marike Westra, of Elsevier, said: "As part of our business, we regularly carry out our own extensive research with our customers in scientific communities which tells us that on the whole they are well served by established publishing models.

"We will look carefully at the study's detailed findings and make a full contribution to the consultation process."

The EC recommendation for what is known as author self-archiving echoes a report by British MPs in 2004 which said scientific publishers were making "excessive profits" at the expense of the public purse.

The report also recommends experimenting with new forms of open-access publishing, where researchers pay for their articles to be published free on the Internet.

PUBLISHERS in Oxfordshire have shrugged off a European report that the high cost of science journals is 'impeding research progress'.

The report recommended that research funded by the taxpayer should be available free on the Internet.

The authors, economists from Toulouse University and the Free University of Brussels, reported that in the 20 years to 1995 the price of scientific journals rose 300 per cent more than the rate of inflation.

Price increases had since slowed but still were significantly above inflation, said the report.

But Bob Campbell, chairman of Oxford-based Blackwell Publishing, said the report was "outdated and muddled".

He said: "There is nothing very new here. They are trying to please everyone at the same time, so it is rather muddled."

He added: "They have banged on about price increases ten years ago, but the latest data, from the American Research Libraries, shows the real cost of journals has risen by one per cent a year for the past three years."

The report, published this month and open to consultation until the summer, proposes that researchers who receive EU funding should be required to place articles published in subscription journals on web-based archives that can be accessed by everyone for free.

Mr Campbell said traditional Oxfordshire publishers such as Elsevier Science, Blackwell Publishing and Taylor & Francis already allowed authors to publish on the Internet after a time lag, so as not to affect the commercial viability of journals.

"I don't think this report is a huge threat to Oxford publishing," he said.

Marike Westra, of Elsevier, said: "As part of our business, we regularly carry out our own extensive research with our customers in scientific communities which tells us that on the whole they are well served by established publishing models.

"We will look carefully at the study's detailed findings and make a full contribution to the consultation process."

The EC recommendation for what is known as author self-archiving echoes a report by British MPs in 2004 which said scientific publishers were making "excessive profits" at the expense of the public purse.

The report also recommends experimenting with new forms of open-access publishing, where researchers pay for their articles to be published free on the Internet.