The comprehensive report is the outcome of a National Science Foundation-funded workshop, identifying critical issues in open access publishing and how to address them

Today, the MIT Press is releasing a comprehensive report that addresses how open access policies shape research and what is needed to maximize their positive impact on the research ecosystem.

The report, entitled “Access to Science & Scholarship 2024: Building an Evidence Base to Support the Future of Open Research Policy,” is the outcome of a National Science Foundation-funded workshop held at the D.C. headquarters of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on September 20, 2024.

While open access aims to democratize knowledge, its implementation has been a factor in the consolidation of the academic publishing industry, an explosion in published articles with inconsistent review and quality control, and new costs that may be hard for researchers and universities to bear, with less affluent schools and regions facing the greatest risk. The workshop examined how open access and other open science policies may affect research and researchers in the future, how to measure their impact, and how to address emerging challenges.

The event brought together leading experts to discuss critical issues in open scientific and scholarly publishing. These issues include:

• The impact of open access policies on the research ecosystem
• The enduring role of peer review in ensuring research quality
• The challenges and opportunities of data sharing and curation
• The evolving landscape of scholarly communications infrastructure

The report identifies key research questions in order to advance open science and scholarship. These include:

• How can we better model and anticipate the consequences of government policies on public access to science and scholarship?
• How can research funders support experimentation with new and more equitable business models for scientific publishing?
• If the dissemination of scholarship is decoupled from peer review and evaluation, who is best suited to perform that evaluation, and how should that process be managed and funded?

“This workshop report is a crucial step in building a data-driven roadmap for the future of open science publishing and policy,” said Dr. Phillip Sharp, Institute Professor and Professor of Biology Emeritus at MIT and faculty lead of the working group behind the workshop and the report. “By identifying key research questions around infrastructure, training, technology, and business models, we aim to ensure that open science practices are sustainable and that they contribute to the highest quality research.”

The full report is available for download here, along with video recordings of the workshop.

The Company of Biologists is delighted to announce the renewal of our five journal Read & Publish Open Access agreement with the Bibsam Consortium.

The three-year agreement, which runs from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2027, ensures that corresponding authors at participating institutions in Sweden can continue to publish an uncapped number of research articles immediately Open Access (OA) in our hybrid journals (Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology) and our fully Open Access journals (Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open) without paying an article processing charge (APC). Researchers at participating institutions also benefit from unlimited access to our hybrid journals, including their full archives dating back to 1853.

Erik Stattin, Head of the Unit for Research Collaboration at the National Library of Sweden, says:

“We are delighted with the renewal of the Read & Publish agreement between The Company of Biologists and the Bibsam Consortium. The agreement means that researchers at participating institutions can continue to publish an unlimited number of Open Access articles in all five of the Company’s journals, alongside read access. The agreement also means that we continue to advance Open Science with a small, not-for-profit publisher that additionally celebrates the work of scientists, including those from Bibsam member institutions, with its biodiversity initiative, The Forest of Biologists.”

Rich Blount, Regional Sales Manager at The Company of Biologists, says:

“The Company of Biologists prides itself on our close working relationship with BIBSAM, and in supporting the Swedish library community and academic researchers through our Read & Publish initiative. We are therefore delighted to agree new terms enabling us to continue this partnership for the 2025-2027 period, allowing participants to publish unlimited research articles with no additional APCs to pay. We hope more Bibsam members will be encouraged to join so that their researchers can also benefit from publishing Open Access and APC free in our journals.”

Find out more about the agreement and participating institutions.

PLOS (Public Library of Science) has played a pivotal role in advancing open-access publishing, promoting the goal of making scientific knowledge freely available to all. By eliminating barriers to access, PLOS has enabled researchers, scholars, and the public to engage with important research without the hindrance of paywalls. This commitment has significantly contributed to the democratization of scientific knowledge and has facilitated the rapid sharing of crucial information.

As we navigate the digital age, the landscape of academic and scientific publishing has transformed. The convenience of digital formats allows for quicker dissemination and wider access to scholarly work, but this shift also presents challenges. Unlike traditional print media, digital content faces risks such as technological obsolescence, data corruption, platform closures, and natural disasters.

To address these challenges, PLOS has formed a strategic partnership with CLOCKSS to ensure the long-term preservation of its digital content. This collaboration is a significant step for both organizations, as it guarantees that PLOS’s diverse portfolio of 14 journals, covering fields such as biology, medicine, climate science, public health, and genetics, will be preserved in a distributed archival network. The aim of this partnership is to protect essential scientific content for future generations, ensuring that, despite potential technological changes or unforeseen events, the knowledge within these journals remains accessible.

The preservation of open-access content is vital for the academic community, particularly in areas like medicine, public health, and environmental science, where research influences policymaking and education. In this regard, the CLOCKSS network is crucial. By archiving PLOS’s content in a decentralized manner, CLOCKSS ensures that multiple copies of the journals are stored in various locations, providing an additional layer of security against data loss and supporting the ongoing availability of scientific content.

This partnership offers numerous benefits that align with both organizations’ mission. First and foremost, CLOCKSS guarantees long-term preservation of PLOS’ vast collection of research. CLOCKSS’ expertise in digital preservation allows PLOS to focus on its core mission of advancing open-access publishing without worrying about the long-term survival of its digital content. CLOCKSS employs proven archival methods that protect against threats such as platform obsolescence and data corruption. In doing so, the organization ensures that the open-access content of PLOS journals will not be lost despite the rapid pace of technological change.

For CLOCKSS, this partnership enhances its extensive repository of academic and scientific content. By adding PLOS’ collection of journals to its archive, CLOCKSS solidifies its position as a trusted custodian of valuable research. CLOCKSS’ mission is to ensuring that freely available research remains preserved for future use. This collaboration with PLOS aligns perfectly with that mission, ensuring that cutting-edge research in fields like sustainability, digital health, and neglected tropical diseases will remain accessible, even in the face of technological advancements or unforeseen disruptions. Ensuring that researchers have access to historical data, seminal papers, and contemporary discoveries is key to advancing scientific progress.

Moreover, this collaboration underscores the importance of equitable access to knowledge. By preserving PLOS’ open-access journals, CLOCKSS and PLOS are making sure that this knowledge is not restricted to those with the means to pay for it. Instead, the research will remain freely available to anyone with an internet connection, promoting global access to scientific information and fostering a more inclusive scientific community. As PLOS and CLOCKSS continue to work together, we are contributing to a future where knowledge remains a public good, accessible to all, regardless of technological changes or disruptions.

“In today’s digital world it is more important than ever that we have a trusted partner to ensure the preservation of our scholarly record,” said Dan Shanahan, Publishing Director, PLOS. ““CLOCKSS’ expertise in data preservation ensures that PLOS can offer an exceptional publishing experience, giving our authors confidence that their work will remain accessible for the long term.

About the Public Library of Science: PLOS is a nonprofit, open access publisher empowering researchers to accelerate progress in science and medicine by leading a transformation in research communication. Since our founding in 2001, PLOS journals have helped break boundaries in research communication to provide more opportunities, choice, and context for researchers and readers. For more information, visit http://www.plos.org.