A comprehensive report titled “Access to Science and Scholarship 2024: Building an Evidence Base to Support the Future of Open Research Policy” has been released by the MIT Press, examining the impact of open access policies on research and researchers. The report identifies key research questions to advance open science and scholarship, including how to model and anticipate government policies’ consequences on public access to science and scholarship.
A Data-Driven Roadmap for the Future of Open Science Publishing and Policy
Background
Open access aims to democratize knowledge, but its implementation has been a factor in the consolidation of the academic publishing industry. This has led to an explosion in published articles with inconsistent review and quality control, as well as new costs that may be hard for researchers and universities to bear.
A Comprehensive Report Examining the Impact of Open Access Policies on Research and Researchers
The MIT Press has released a report titled “Access to Science and Scholarship 2024: Building an Evidence Base to Support the Future of Open Research Policy.” This report is the outcome of a National Science Foundation-funded workshop held at the American Association for the Advancement of Science on September 20, 2024.
Key Issues in Open Scientific and Scholarly Publishing
The workshop brought together leading experts to discuss critical issues in open scientific and scholarly publishing. These issues include:
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The impact of open access policies on the research ecosystem
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The enduring role of peer review in ensuring research quality
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The challenges and opportunities of data sharing and curation
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The evolving landscape of scholarly communications infrastructure
Research Questions to Advance Open Science and Scholarship
The report identifies key research questions to advance open science and scholarship. These include:
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How can we better model and anticipate the consequences of government policies on public access to science and scholarship?
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How can research funders support experimentation with new and more equitable business models for scientific publishing?
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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?
The Report
The report, entitled “Access to Science and 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 Washington headquarters of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on September 20. The event brought together leading experts to discuss critical issues in open scientific and scholarly publishing.
Key Findings
The report identifies key research questions in order to advance open science and scholarship, including:
Recommendations
The report recommends addressing emerging challenges and opportunities in open science and scholarship. This includes:
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Developing a data-driven roadmap for the future of open science publishing and policy
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Identifying key research questions around infrastructure, training, technology, and business models
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Ensuring that open science practices are sustainable and contribute to the highest quality research
Availability
The full report is available for download, along with video recordings of the workshop.
