The Swedish Research Council announced today that it has adopted an OA mandate for its grantees. From a translation of the press release by Ingegerd Rabow: A page with more information (Google translation) notes that the Research Council signed the Berlin Declaration in 2005.

Jenny Delasalle, writing on the University of Warwick repository's blog, wonders, "Does repository deposit of a work constitute publication" and thus violate the Ingelfinger rule? If so, does that disadvantage students who make their thesis OA and later want to re-write it for submission to a journal? Stuart Lewis, in a self-archived chapter of a book on library mashups, tells the story behind the Repository66 map.

Adrian Stevenson, SWORD2 Project Final Report, report to JISC, June 30, 2009. (Thanks to Charles Bailey.) Executive summary: From the report's recommendations: See also our past posts on SWORD and SWORD2.

Carol Hsin, Digitization project derailed, Yale Daily News, September 10, 2009. (Thanks to Charles Bailey.) See also our past post on Microsoft's pull-out at Yale.

Samuel C. Avemaria Utulu and Omolara Bolarinwa, Open access initiatives adoption by Nigerian academics, Library Review, 2009.

Tim Hackman, What’s the opposite of a pyrrhic victory?: Lessons learned from an open access defeat, C&RL News, October 2009. (Thanks to Charles Bailey.) See also our past posts on the Maryland resolution (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) or Peter's SOAN column on the topic.

The November 2009 issue of Walt Crawford's Cites & Insights is devoted to OA. Philosophy journal Filozofski vestnik International converted to OA with Open Humanities Press. NECOBELAC (Network of Collaboration Between Europe and Latin American-Caribbean Countries) is conducting a survey to inform the project's strategic planning.

Richard Poynder, Interview with BioMed Central Publisher Matthew Cockerill, Open and Shut?, October 4, 2009. A wide-ranging interview with Matthew Cockerill of OA publisher BioMed Central. Topics include BMC's marketing practices, journal quality, author-side fees, and the role of publishers in the Internet era.

Johns Hopkins University, Sheridan Libraries Awarded $20 Million Grant, press release, October 2, 2009. Comment. The comparison to PMC is promising. The history of the NIH Public Access policy began with a repository, then a voluntary policy for grantee deposits, then finally an OA mandate.

Here's more of what to expect for the upcoming international Open Access Week (October 19-23, 2009): Events in Japan will includes panels at the National Institute of Informatics and the University of Tokyo. In Canada, look for lectures at the University of Calgary and the University of British Columbia and Webcasts from Athabasca University.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) new Principles on Conduct of Clinical Trials and Communication of Clinical Trial Results took effect on October 1. (Thanks to the Wall Street Journal Health Blog.) The voluntary guidelines describe ethical standards for industry-sponsored clinical trials.