Perspectives on Open Science during International Open Access Week

The theme of OA Week this year is "Community over Commercialization". The idea of open access to research outputs has, of course, been part of the Open Access movement from the beginning, but in recent years, the importance of openness has been increasingly emphasized beyond the grassroots level.

Many major research funders and the Council of the European Union have called for fairness in scholarly publishing models. In other words, community over commercialisation: money, or rather the lack thereof, should not become an obstacle to utilising, studying, or publishing research results anywhere in the world. The Tampere University Open Science Policy and the Open RDI operation guidelines and principles in Tampere University of Applied Sciences also highlight equality in knowledge and economic sustainability as key objectives in open access publications. 

However, as the figures on the website of the national FinELib consortium show, Open Access articles are increasingly published in hybrid journals, i.e. journals that charge both subscription fees and article processing charges. This model is likely to raise prices in the long run as well as maintain the status quo, i.e. major publishers can almost dictate terms to universities and other customers. 

(Tip: On the same page, you can also find out which publishers are the major players in paid Open Access publishing.)

Background

The idea of the International Open Access Week is to spread information about the benefits of open access publishing, share good practices, and reach new audiences to make openness the "new normal" in science. The week was conceived by SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), an international alliance of academic and research libraries.  

During the week, there will be a wide variety of conferences and webinars, at least some of which are open to everyone. 
 

Library's open science trainings and briefings during OA Week

• Mon 21.10.2024 at 13.00–14.00 Oppimateriaalit avoimeksi -koulutus (in Finnish)
• Tue 22.10.2024 at 13.00–14.00 Aineistonhallinta ja etiikka (in Finnish)
• Wed 23.10.2024 at 9.00–10.00 Data management and ethics (in English)
• Wed 23.10.2024 at 13.15–14.00 Avoimen julkaisemisen alennukset ja tukirahoitus (in Finnish)
• Fri 25.10.2024 at 9.15–9.45 Tietoisku: Kansallisella tutkijan profiililla osaaminen näkyväksi! (in Finnish)

Author: Anna Ruth
English translation: Piatta Hellevaara