OATP primary

Academic Espionage: Finding a Better Balance between Open Science and Security Imperatives

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 07:33:00 -0400

Abstract: Academia has increasingly become a battleground where high-value knowledge and intellectual property are contested by public and private actors employing diverse strategies to secure or appropriate these assets for their own benefit. Universities, as centers of knowledge production, are natural targets for surveillance, recruitment, and collaboration by intelligence services. Security institutions, particularly intelligence and counterintelligence agencies, play a pivotal role in protecting the sources, repositories, and integrity of critical information and data. This chapter offers a set of recommendations addressing the challenge of safeguarding academia’s principles of open research and scientific freedom against malicious activities, particularly those conducted by intelligence services.

Balancing Research Data Management and Open Scholarship: How Can Libraries in the Global South Traverse the Rise of Data-Opolies? | Innovating in Libraries, Volume 2Surviving Technological Lethargy in Times of Endless Transformation | Books Gateway | Emerald Publishing

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 07:31:00 -0400

Abstract: While emerging technologies under the banner of artificial intelligence (AI) have revolutionised how research is conducted for the better, but on the other hand it has created ethical problems regarding data protection, privacy, confidentiality, data sovereignty, and integrity, among others. The Janus faced nature of AI presents challenges and opportunities for good and worse. Such a scenario calls for a fundamental rethink regarding how researchers in the academic landscape of Library and Information Science (LIS) ensure that data stewardship ethos find expression in the data value chain. This chapter aims to explore how data stewardship can leverage librarians in the era of emerging technologies. Using an interpretivist paradigm and a qualitative research approach, the chapter seeks to unpack how the data stewardship can be useful in the LIS praxis.

Kiesewetter | Doing Openness Otherwise: Democratization and OA Publishing in the HSS | The Journal of Electronic Publishing

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 07:13:00 -0400

Abstract: Open access (OA) publishing has often been framed through democratization narratives that shape how openness is understood in the humanities and social sciences (HSS). This article examines these narratives and critiques how they are bound up with discourses that equate openness with technological, legal, or financial access to research outputs. In doing so, they abstract openness from the epistemic, social, and affective conditions under which scholarly knowledge is produced, evaluated, and experienced. In their mainstream, policy‑ and funder‑driven forms, these discourses—and the technocratic model of openness they promote—have become entangled with prestige regimes that privilege measurable outputs, reward efficiency, and marginalize forms of scholarly labor that resist quantification. As OA publishing becomes increasingly embedded within performance‑driven research cultures, HSS scholars often experience it less as an ethical or intellectual commitment than as an administrative obligation. Even those critical of this evolution frequently lack the time, resources, or institutional support to pursue alternatives. In response, the article foregrounds OA practices emerging from feminist, decolonial, and post‑hegemonic traditions as democratic interventions into the very conditions of scholarly work. Through analysis of three publishing initiatives—Ecological Rewriting: Situated Engagements with The Chernobyl Herbarium (Méndez Cota 2023), the “Open Science Manifesto” (OCSDNet 2017), and “editing otherwise” (Kiesewetter 2024a, b)—it proposes that OA publishing can become a terrain of democratization through situated, collective experimentation with how knowledge is recognized, shared, and lived. Here, openness is not a technical fix or compliance measure but a practical insistence that scholarship can be done differently.

Le Foll | “Well, Parts of Linguistics Is Open…”: Insights into Linguists’ Diverse Understandings of Open Science | The Journal of Electronic Publishing

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 07:11:00 -0400

Abstract: Broadly defined as the study of language, linguistics is a diverse field spanning many disciplines. Recent studies on the prevalence of Questionable Research Practices (QRPs) in linguistics (e.g. Isbell et al. 2022) suggest that it suffers from many of the same issues that triggered the replication crisis in psychology (see e.g. Sönning and Werner 2021). While surveys have indicated that linguists are generally in favour of Open Science/Scholarship (OS), there appears to be a “a misalignment between the attitude to and the adoption of OS practices” (Liu and de Cat 2024, 64). The present study aims to gain insights into this misalignment by exploring linguists’ understanding of what constitutes OS and of the specificities of linguistic research that (can) affect its applicability to (subdisciplines of) linguistics. To this end, the study draws on the results of an anonymous, small-scale survey and the qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with 26 linguists based in Northern Europe, representing all career stages, and a wide range of subdisciplines within linguistics. The results reveal diverse understandings of OS among linguists. While some focus on the accessibility of research (for both academics and the wider public), others prioritise the sharing of data, materials, and code to promote transparency, reproducibility, and replicability. The latter group also emphasises the importance of OS principles and values like rigour, fairness, and collaboration. Linguists report learning about OS through conferences, workshops, library services, and social media but, most importantly, in personal interactions with other researchers, thus making much of this knowledge network-dependent. The interviewees highlight several challenges and considerations that they believe need to be addressed when applying OS to linguistics. These include ethical and legal issues concerning data sharing, the high inter-person variability inherent to many linguistic studies, the need for (more) funding for open-access monographs, and for training in data management and statistical methods.

How to make your open access books more accessible (and why it matters) – Open Access Books Network

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 07:08:00 -0400

"Does open access mean accessible to all? This free webinar will delve into the essential but often challenging topic of accessibility, with a particular focus on how smaller publishers can make their open access books more accessible to users of assistive technology. This webinar will explore: why accessibility matters to readers; how accessibility and open access go hand-in-hand; what tools are available to help publishers make their open access books more accessible; and how to tackle accessibility if it seems like an overwhelming challenge. Highlighting the practical resources available to inform and help publishers seeking to make their books more accessible for all readers, and featuring a publisher who will explain how they have taken on this challenge step by step, this webinar offers essential, practical advice to make accessibility more achievable, and ensure that open access truly means accessible to everyone."

Guest Post - From Open Access to Preprints: Are We Repeating the Same Mistakes in Scholarly Publishing? - The Scholarly Kitchen

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 07:05:00 -0400

"Share0Shares Print this PageEditor’s Note: Today’s post is by Jonny Coates. Jonny, originally an immunologist, is a leading expert in preprints and metascience, focusing on science communication, trust, and research culture reform.For more than two decades, the open access (OA) movement has been one of the most influential reform efforts in scholarly communication. It reshaped policies, business models, and expectations around the dissemination of research. Yet the movement has also faced persistent criticism, including from longtime observer and journalist Richard Poynder, who in 2023 announced that he would no longer cover open access after concluding that the movement had failed to achieve its original goals. In an ebook outlining his reasoning, Poynder argued that open access not only fell short of its ambitions, but in some cases produced unintended consequences, including the rise of predatory publishing, the normalization of pay-to-publish models, growing inequities, and new opportunities for publishers to extract revenue through “double dipping”.Whether one agrees with Poynder’s conclusion, his critique raises an uncomfortable but important question for other reform efforts in scholarly publishing. In particular, the preprint movement, once seen as a pragmatic, low-cost, researcher-driven route to openness, now faces its own moment of uncertainty.In 2023, bioRxiv marked a decade of rapid growth in life-science preprints. Yet only two years later, the landscape looks less secure. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), long the most significant funder of preprint infrastructure, has largely withdrawn from the space. Advocacy organizations have shifted their priorities and lost their expertise, and adoption rates in several fields appear to be plateauing. At the same time, new initiatives such as Publish-Review-Curate (PRC) are emerging, potentially fragmenting effort and authority within the ecosystem. Questions have already been raised about the current trajectory of the preprint movement. I revisit Poynder’s arguments about why OA faltered to examine if the preprint community is at risk of repeating some of the same mistakes and how it might course correct."

JEP special issue on Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences just published! | The Journal of Electronic Publishing

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 00:29:00 -0400

New special issue on Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences, edited by Samuel Moore, Jenni Adams, and Miranda Barnes Articles Open Research for the Humanities and Social Science: Editors’ Introduction Jenni Adams, Miranda L Barnes and Samuel Moore 2026-04-16 Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/article/id/9283/ Open for Debate: Situating Open Research for the Humanities in a Neoliberal Setting Beatriz Barrocas Ferreira 2026-04-16 Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/article/id/7850/ Doing Openness Otherwise: Democratization and OA Publishing in the HSS Rebekka Kiesewetter 2026-04-16 Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/article/id/7944/ Open at the Level of (Para)text: Critical Intertextuality and Discursive Notation as Open Research Practices in the Humanities Jenni Adams 2026-04-16 Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/article/id/7845/ A Prototyping Renaissance: Form, Content, and Scale in Open Publication in the Humanities John W Maxwell and Alessandra Bordini 2026-04-16 Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/article/id/7837/ What Does Openness Mean for the Humanities? Redefining Ethical and Reflexive Practices in Open Research Adeola Eze 2026-04-16 Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/article/id/7873/ Open Scholarship in the Humanities: An OA Author Intervention Judith Fathallah 2026-04-16 Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/article/id/7812/ Negotiating Openness under Authoritarian Risk: Feminist Open Data Sharing in Hong Kong Lucas L.H. Wong and Tak-Yin Yumi Wong 2026-04-16 Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/article/id/7839/ “Well, Parts of Linguistics Is Open…”: Insights into Linguists’ Diverse Understandings of Open Science Elen Le Foll 2026-04-16 Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/article/id/7974/ Open Practices, Closed Realities? Archaeological Perspectives on Open Research Practices Claire Davin, Jess Beck and Lai Ma 2026-04-16 Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/article/id/7833/ Tensions et zones d’ombre autour de la science ouverte en SHS en France Ioanna Faïta 2026-04-16 Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/article/id/7854/ The French HSS Community Speaks Out on Open Science: A Top-Down and Bottom-Up Taxonomy Approach Candice Fillaud, Chérifa Boukacem-Zeghmouri, Yutong FEI and Valentine Favel-Kapoian 2026-04-16 Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/article/id/7835/ Mobilizing Knowledge in the Humanities and Social Sciences: Exploring Competing Articulations of Openness in Policy and Practice Corina MacDonald 2026-04-16 Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/article/id/7849/ Do Infrastructures Have Epistemologies? Studying an Open Access Infrastructure for SSH from Within Simon Dumas Primbault 2026-04-16 Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/article/id/7803/ Open Infrastructure and the Threat of “Vanishing” Journals: Leveraging Open Knowledge Commons, Open Source Software, and DIY Solutions to Preserve Humanities and Social Sciences Research Graham Jensen, Sajib Ghosh, Archie To and Ray Siemens 2026-04-16 Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/article/id/7860/ Emerging Forms of Open Research in Social/Cultural Anthropology Timothy Elfenbein, Marcel LaFlamme and Andrew S. Hoffman 2026-04-16 Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/article/id/8085/

Apply to become a publishing partner with the Open Journals Collective. Submissions invited by May 15, 2026.

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 00:19:00 -0400

The Open Journal Collective (OJC) works with mission-aligned nonprofit publishing organisations and platforms that support high-quality, community-led open access journals. Publishing partners play a central role in hosting, managing, and developing journals within the collective while contributing to a shared infrastructure and governance model. We are pleased to open applications for new publishing partners to join our community. OJC seeks partners committed to equitable, sustainable and community-governed scholarly publishing, with a particular focus on diamond open-access models. Successful applicants will become part of the OJC community, with opportunities to be part of our collaborative governance, benefit from our collective voice and influence, and apply to bring diamond open access journals into OJC's collections through future application rounds. Please note that this process is for publishing organisations only to apply to join OJC, and acceptance as a member does not automatically mean that an organisation's journals become part of OJC's collections. Individual journals are not eligible to apply via this process. There will be specific opportunities in the future for journals to apply to become part of OJC, which we will announce separately.

A New Membership Model for a More Equitable DataCite - DataCite

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 09:53:00 -0400

"Starting this month, we’re introducing key updates to our membership fee structure to re-align with the guiding values behind our origins and our vision for the future. We’re making a deliberate shift from a transactional model based on DOI registration quantities to a collective funding model focused on supporting shared open infrastructure. This means that DataCite’s standard fee structure will no longer include per-DOI fees or fees based on DOI quantities. As part of this change, we’re also simplifying how fees are applied and adjusting costs based on country-level economic indicators to achieve a more balanced distribution across member organizations."

18th BERLIN OPEN ACCESS CONFERENCE: RESETTING THE TERMS OF SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 09:08:00 -0400

"After a decade of open access agreements, the focus is extending beyond execution to what scholarly publishing is expected to deliver and how to shape system-level outcomes. The 18th Berlin Open Access Conference (B18) will convene senior leaders from research institutions, library consortia, and funding bodies alongside major publishers to address a central question: What must change now to realign scholarly publishing with the interests of the research community? Building on years of negotiating and implementing open publishing agreements, B18 will move beyond incremental progress to focus on: Accountability and transparency – assessing pricing and performance against stated commitments, using shared data AI and publishing models – implications for cost, licensing, and control of scholarly content The evolution of open access agreements – clarifying the value of publishing services and aligning costs with that value Scalable alternatives and coordinated investment – advancing collective approaches to open publishing Publishing ethics, research integrity and trust – reinforcing expectations for quality and transparency across the system The conference will combine direct engagement with publishers and closed strategic coordination among negotiators, with the aim of strengthening alignment and advancing system-level change."

“Scaling Small” and Governing Together: Towards a National Diamond Open Access Consortium in Switzerland | Beiträge zum Schweizer Bibliothekskongress 2025

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 07:35:00 -0400

by Daniela Hahn and Susanne Aerni CoDOA is a national initiative led by the Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries and involving twelve Swiss institutions, aiming to establish a consortial funding model for Diamond Open Access journals. Positioned within the Revised Swiss National Open Access Strategy, CoDOA translates policy objectives into practice by developing a shared governance structure and funding mechanism to advance Diamond Open Access in Switzerland through a co-design approach. Drawing on the concept of “scaling small”, the article examines this approach that seeks to stabilise existing community-led publishing practices through collective investment and institutional care.

Trump administration withdraws appeal, securing historic victory for libraries and IMLS | ALA

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 12:14:00 -0400

"On April 6, a federal court granted the Trump Administration’s request to withdraw its appeal of a federal judge’s earlier ruling that struck down the Administration’s dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)—the only federal agency dedicated to providing funding for the nation’s libraries. The dismissal brings to an end a lawsuit filed by the Attorneys General of 21 states in April 2025. In a decision issued on November 21, 2025, the federal District Court for the District of Rhode Island nullified the administration’s actions to dismantle IMLS and permanently barred the administration from taking further steps to eliminate the agency."

Open Access as a Solution to, Not a Cause of, Scientific Publishing Dysfunction

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:34:00 -0400

"The hearing charter accurately identifies a number of serious problems affecting scientific publishing: the continually rising cost of academic publishing and publications, low-quality journals and paper mills, reproducibility concerns, and the “publish or perish” incentive structures that prioritize volume over rigor. SPARC agrees that these problems are real, consequential, and require careful attention. We urge the Subcommittee to carefully distinguish between the structural problems in the current publishing marketplace and the policies designed to reform it. Open access, when properly implemented, is not the cause of the dysfunction described in the hearing charter. It is, in large part, a remedy for it. For decades, scientific publishing has been dominated by a small number of large commercial publishers who have accumulated extraordinary market power. U.S. taxpayers fund the research, researchers produce the work, volunteer reviewers evaluate it for free, and academic and research institutions then pay subscription fees to access the results of that publicly funded work. Increasingly, the same researchers who write the articles reporting on the results of that research are also asked to pay publishers for the privilege of publishing it. This has created a system where profit margins of the largest academic publishers have been reported to exceed those of many technology companies.1 This system is central to the misaligned incentives and costs that the hearing charter describes. It primarily rewards prestige and has concentrated publishing revenue in ways that strain institutional library budgets, disadvantage smaller institutions and limit America’s ability to lead in cutting edge science. This rentseeking dynamic stems not from open access but from a market where a few players wield outsized power over academic careers, how research is communicated, and to whom. It has resulted in a market in which a handful of journal publishers wield enormous power over academic careers, and American scientific leadership."

European Rights Retention Community of Practice - May 2026

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:05:00 -0400

"The European Rights Retention Community of Practice (CoP) continues to bring together experts and practitioners from across Europe to exchange experiences, learn from one another, and strengthen the implementation of rights retention strategies. At this 9th meeting, we are pleased to welcome speakers from the UK and Ireland, Anna Vernon and Susan Reilly, who will share their perspectives on addressing rights retention when negotiating with publishers. Beyond the presentations, this meeting offers a space for community members to actively participate by sharing experiences, discussing challenges, and exploring practical solutions together. If you work at an academic institution, are a funder, or an Open Science policymaker, please join us and contribute to the conversation."

Liuta | Library Publishing in Practice: A Case Study in Open Course Publications | Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 10:55:00 -0400

Abstract: Introduction: Open course publications provide students with real-world experience of the scholarly publishing process, engaging students as information creators rather than consumers. Open course publications, an example of open pedagogy in action, can be journals or monographs created as an assignment in a credit bearing course. Supporting open assignments is one of the most impactful activities undertaken by Digital Publishing units in academic libraries, educating the next generation of scholars about the value of open access. This article describes Simon Fraser University Library’s approach to supporting in-class publication projects, focusing on in-class open monographs. Description of the service: The Digital Publishing Librarian and Copyright Specialist collaborate with an instructor to plan support for their course publication. This includes working with the instructor to plan the project; providing an in-class workshop on key scholarly publishing topics, including an introduction to open access and Creative Commons licences; ongoing support as needed through the semester; and production and publication of the finalized monograph. Next steps: The Library is currently addressing long-term sustainability needs for these publications. The authors are considering further opportunities for outreach to instructors beyond the humanities and social sciences, as well as potential connections to undergraduate research activities, while recognizing the capacity required to provide and expand this service.

University Libraries partnership with Google Books enhances access to unique materials - University Libraries | University of South Carolina

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 10:42:00 -0400

"A new partnership between University of South Carolina Libraries and Google Books will expand access to thousands of volumes from the Libraries’ collections. The Libraries are joining the Google Books Library Project, which seeks to create “a comprehensive, searchable, virtual card catalog of all books in all languages.” The Google Books Library Project, which to date comprises some 40 million books in over 500 languages, identified approximately a hundred thousand books held by University Libraries that are great candidates to add to their collection. In most cases, these volumes are not available elsewhere. Google will digitize all of those volumes and, in addition to making them available through the searchable online Google Books site, will add them to the collections available through the HathiTrust Digital Library, a not-for-profit collaborative of academic and research libraries that has preserved more than 19 million digitized items."

Publishers & Libraries: Hosting the third annual OA Switchboard NYC Summit – The Tinker

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 10:41:00 -0400

"Columbia Libraries was thrilled to host the third annual OA Switchboard NYC Summit in March 2026. Collection Analysis Librarian Katherine Brooks, Head of Open Scholarship Esther Jackson and OA Switchboard Executive Director Yvonne Campfens welcomed colleagues from American Institute of Physics (AIP) Publishing, American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Publishing, the American Physiological Society, Rockefeller University Press, ConsortiaManager, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, TNQ, PLOS and IntelligenceBeyond for conversations that centered on the OA Switchboard roadmap and scholarly publishing more broadly. Attendees discussed scholarly identifiers such as DOI, ORCID and ROR, trends in metadata quality and completeness, and the collaborative Data Quality Challenge with best practices for both publishers and institutions. ConsortiaManager provided a demonstration of their product used to manage and publicize organizational open access publishing agreements, which is similar to the Journal Search Tool (JST) recently licensed by Columbia Libraries to share information about the campus-wide open access publishing agreements provided by the Libraries. Brooks and Jackson had the opportunity to share the OA strategy of Columbia Libraries, and emphasized that we continue to prioritize read and publish deals that are cost-neutral and have predictable cost increases year over year."

Amazon gives the public a taste of the treatment academic libraries have been highlighting for years – Librarianth

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 07:48:00 -0400

For over a decade, the Amazon Kindle has been the poster child for the digital reading revolution. It promised a library in your pocket, a seamless partnership between the tactile world of paper and the convenience of the cloud. But for millions of users clinging to older, perfectly functional devices, that promise has recently curdled. As reported by the BBC, Amazon’s decision to effectively ‘stealth-brick’ older models by removing their ability to access the Kindle Store and receive new ebooks is more than just a hardware sunsetting, it is a public-facing masterclass in the fragility of digital ownership. While the general public reacts with a mix of confusion and outrage, those within the world of academic and public libraries are experiencing a profound sense of déjà vu. For years, librarians have been the canaries in the coal mine, documenting the steady erosion of consumer rights and the aggressive pivot from ownership to high-cost, restrictive, access models. Amazon’s recent move is not an isolated tech glitch, it is the consumer-facing manifestation of a commercial strategy that has plagued institutional knowledge for a generation.

100+ Journalists Applaud the Internet Archive’s Role In Preserving the Public Record

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 06:11:00 -0400

"Over 100 journalists including Rachel Maddow, Cory Doctorow, and Ellen Nakashima have signed a letter to the Internet Archive celebrating the Wayback Machine as a crucial resource for their work. The letter reads in part: “We are thankful that the Internet Archive itself proactively partners with news organizations, and does not engage in paywall circumvention or irresponsible scraping. They value the work of journalists, and it shows in the care that they take to preserve it with integrity. We commend the Internet Archive for its commitment to preserving journalism for future generations. We welcome its continued work to ensure that today’s reporting remains available to tomorrow’s journalists, researchers, and the public. Preserving this record is essential to protecting journalism’s legacy.” The full text, list of signatories, and link for journalists to sign on digitally is available at https://www.savethearchive.com/journalists/ "

The politics of open knowledge: production, certification, and control - pulse49.com

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 05:38:00 -0400

Abstract: This article is based on a keynote speech given at the OASPA conference in Leuven on 22 September 2025 critically analyzing the power relations surrounding open knowledge. The central thesis is that what matters is not who owns knowledge, but who can use, produce and evaluate it – depending on social, cultural and financial capital. Without these resources, open knowledge remains available but not equally usable. The core problems lie in knowledge production and evaluation: peer review processes, database indexing and ranking systems determine the visibility and recognition of knowledge. However, the effectiveness of these procedures is the subject of intense debate, as is the inadequate implementation of standards, the indexing of dubious journals and systematic distortions in favor of the Global North, renowned institutions and established publishers. It is therefore less a question of ownership and more a question of power: who can produce knowledge, and who decides on its credibility and dissemination? Political developments are manifesting themselves in cuts to open access budgets, restrictions on access to research data and even the suppression of undesirable knowledge production. In response, ‘dark archives’ (e. g., for arXiv at the TIB; Tobschall et al. 2025) or data backups (e. g., of PubMed by ZB MED) are being created to preserve scientific autonomy. AI also jeopardises open access principles by failing to cite sources when processing open content, which undermines copyright laws. One possible, albeit unrealistic, solution would be for publishers to voluntarily commit to only granting access to AI systems that cite sources correctly. Technical access restrictions for AI would run counter to the very idea of open knowledge. This reveals a fundamental dilemma between regulation and openness. Community-supported frameworks are proposed as a solution, such as a ‘Trusted Open Knowledge’ label that guarantees source references, establishes transparent evaluation and addresses structural inequalities. The central question remains: Who does science serve, and who determines what counts as knowledge?

Call for Volunteers – DOAJ Blog

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 05:36:00 -0400

"DOAJ has a network of skilled, voluntary Associate Editors and Editors who spend a few hours a week processing new journal applications. Would you like to join us? We are now recruiting volunteers who ideally have a scholarly communications background, preferably in Library Sciences, and preferably based in Asia. You must also be proficient in written and spoken English. As a DOAJ volunteer, you will do a few hours of voluntary, unpaid work a week. You will receive training materials to help you carry out your duties. Your work will directly contribute to the quality, reputation, and prominence of open access scholarly publishing around the globe."

Building an Africa-led future for Open Research – INASP Blog

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 11:04:00 -0400

"The conversation around Open Research in Africa is entering a new phase. What was once framed as a question of access to publications is now being redefined as something far more strategic: a pathway to strengthening research systems, building equitable knowledge infrastructures, and positioning science, technology and innovation at the centre of the continent’s development. At its core, Open Research refers to approaches that make research more transparent and its outputs more accessible and reusable. This shift was visible at the 4th EAC Regional Science, Technology and Innovation Conference in Kigali, where the Vision for Open Research in Africa was presented during a high-level side event alongside broader continental science and innovation discussions. For INASP, this moment marked an important milestone. We have been supporting the Science for Africa Foundation in shaping this vision, and it is encouraging to see it now gaining traction within continental processes, particularly through the emerging collaboration with the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) and its contribution to delivering the ambitions of the African Union’s Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa 2034 (STISA-2034). The Kigali discussions made clear that Open Research is no longer a niche agenda, but part of the infrastructure required for Africa’s long-term development."

Virtual OER/ALM Symposium

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 10:49:00 -0400

An event registration form with no further information.

IGI Global, University of Rhode Island sign open access agreement - Research Information

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 10:38:00 -0400

"Under the terms of the new partnership, faculty members at the University of Rhode Island will receive a five per cent discount on article processing charges (APCs). This update joins other recent publishing news regarding the growth of IGI Global’s open access journal programme. The discount applies when publishing within the company’s portfolio, which includes nearly 200 peer-reviewed journals. These cover diverse fields such as business, medicine, technology, and social sciences."

Why funders shouldn’t withdraw money from open access publishing | Samuel Moore

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 07:30:00 -0400

Cancer Research UK’s decision to stop funding article processing charges marks a significant shift in how they approach open access. In its April 1st announcement (not an April Fool), the organisation argues that, despite years of investment, the current APC-driven model of open access publishing “hasn’t worked” in delivering a system that is genuinely accessible or fair. Instead of reducing barriers, they claim, the model has simply propped up the businesses of for-profit publishers, especially through hybrid journals of subscription and open access content. A central concern is the inefficient use of charitable funds. Cancer Research UK estimates that ending APC funding will save around £5.2 million over three years, money it argues can be better spent directly on research. The organisation highlights the contradiction of using donated funds to cover publishing fees while the same research community continues to pay subscription costs to access journals. In this sense, APCs are framed not as a sustainable solution to access, but as part of a system that duplicates costs without resolving underlying inequities. More broadly, the decision reflects a critique of the scholarly publishing ecosystem itself. Cancer Research UK maintains its commitment to open access in principle, but argues that the current system is failing to deliver “an efficient and fair” model of communication. While it is not clear whether other funders will follow suit, the mood in the UK does seem to have markedly shifted against open access and whether it is worth the costs. The UK has spent a great deal on OA and many are feeling that the investment has simply lined the pockets of the commercial publishing industry. Yet missing from the announcement is what CRUK’s commitment to open access looks like in the absence of money supporting the same. The charity has reintroduced an embargo period to its OA policy, allowing researchers 6 months before their articles have to be openly available, and so their commitment to OA is already diluted through the announcement. The charity hopes that withdrawing funding will ultimately “drive publishers to look for a more sustainable arrangement between themselves, universities and academic institutions.” It is reasonable to want to reassess APC-driven approaches to open access publishing. As funders made money available for OA, publishers have oriented their business models around article volume in order to receive as many APCs as possible and to convince institutions that transformative agreements are worthwhile. The result is a situation in which more and more articles are published, as quickly as possible, with recourse to as little paid labour as possible. Publishers prioritise scale, automation and homogeneity to cope with this volume, leading to problems of fraud, oversupply and peer review fatigue. [...]

Developing an Open Science Readiness Assessment Framework for the SEP - Leiden Madtrics

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 05:46:00 -0400

"Developing long-term OS policies and roadmaps can be a daunting task for research units. This blog post proposes to develop an Open Science Readiness Assessment Framework tool, aligned with the Dutch Strategy Evaluation Protocol to help research units to better embed OS in their long-term planning. Determining the quality, value, impact, or merit of research is no easy task. Results can vary considerably depending on how these criteria are defined, what elements are assessed and how the assessments are used. Research continues to be evaluated around the world at individual, institutional and national levels, yet considerable discussion remains as to what strategies effectively address the complexity of the task."

Open Access Publishing in Practice: Author Experiences and Insights Tickets, Thursday 23 April • 5 - 6:15 EDT | Eventbrite

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 05:42:00 -0400

"A panel of authors share first-hand insights into how publishing their work openly has shaped its reach, visibility and impact. Whether you’re exploring OA options for the first time or looking to deepen your understanding of its benefits, this session offers practical, experience driven insights into what OA publishing can achieve. This 75 minute online event brings together a panel of authors to share first-hand insights into how publishing their work openly has shaped its reach, visibility, and impact. Featuring authors from a range of university presses, the event offers an opportunity to hear directly from researchers working across the humanities, social sciences and sciences."

USRN April Community Conversation: Everything ETDs

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 05:40:00 -0400

"Join the USRN community for a conversation on electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs)—one of the most complex and collaborative aspects of repository work. We’ll explore how campuses manage submissions, approvals, metadata, access, and long-term preservation, and how responsibilities are shared between libraries and graduate studies. Discussion topics include accessibility of legacy and new content, embargo policies, metadata creation, and the infrastructure choices that shape ETD management—whether you’re running Fedora or Hyrax, or using solutions like DSpace or Digital Commons. We’ll also dig into student support, copyright considerations, and the balance between openness and publishing and privacy needs."

EMS Press | Launch to Open

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:00:00 -0400

"Pioneered by EMS Press, Launch to Open is a transparent framework for open access, developed to help established journals move away from commercial publishing models. Based on the Subscribe to Open approach, it balances publisher investment with institutional support, while bringing full transparency to costs, targets and revenue allocation."

The Internet's Most Powerful Archiving Tool Is in Peril | WIRED

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 09:57:00 -0400

"A number of other major journalism organizations have also recently moved to restrict the Wayback Machine from archiving their stories, including The New York Times. According to analysis by the artificial-intelligence-detection startup Originality AI, 23 major news sites are currently blocking ia_archiverbot, the web crawler commonly used by the Internet Archive for the Wayback project. The social platform Reddit is too. Other outlets are limiting the project in different ways: The Guardian does not block the crawler, but it excludes its content from the Internet Archive API and filters out articles from the Wayback Machine interface, which makes it harder for regular people to access archived versions of its articles."

IARLA: Pathways to Open The Global Impact of Repositories

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 09:54:00 -0400

"The second of two 60‑minute Zoom webinars celebrating repositories as global essential infrastructure. This International Alliance of Research Library Associations event on the global impact of repositories is free to attend and open to all. These sessions will be convened by William Nixon (RLUK) and Jane Angel (CAUL) on behalf of IARLA. Pathways to Open: The Global Impact of Repositories Thursday 30 April, 14:00 (BST), 15:00 (CEST/SAST), 16:00 (EEST), 09:00 (EDT), 21:00 (AWST), 22:30 (ACST)"

Court Rules in Favor of Public Access to Information

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 09:45:00 -0400

Last Updated on April 13, 2026, 11:58 am ET

Photo by Nasser Eledroos on Unsplash

In a win for information advocates and the public, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that the American Society for Testing & Materials (ASTM) was unlikely to succeed on its claim that online research platform UpCodes infringed copyright by posting ASTM building standards on its website.

UpCodes hosts a database of building codes and standards. ASTM, a private standards development organization, sued UpCodes for copyright and trademark infringement for publishing ASTM standards that have been incorporated by reference into law. In an earlier stage of the case, a district court denied ASTM’s motion for a preliminary injunction, reasoning that ASTM was unlikely to succeed on the merits because UpCodes’s copying constitutes fair use. On April 7, 2026, the third circuit agreed with the district court’s decision and denied the preliminary injunction.

In its fair use analysis, the third circuit upheld the district court’s conclusion that UpCodes’s use is transformative because it “achieves the distinct objective of making the law freely accessible and educating the public on the contents of binding laws.” The district court based its conclusion on ASTM v. Public.Resource.Org, a factually similar case in which the DC Circuit found that Public Resource’s online posting of hundreds of technical standards that were incorporated by reference into law was transformative because it “serve[d] a different purpose than the plaintiff’s works.

The third circuit was not convinced by ASTM’s argument that a work must be altered in order to be transformative, a position that overlooks the first factor’s focus on the purpose of the use. The court also rejected ASTM’s comparison to Internet Archive’s uses in Hachette Book Group Inc. v. Internet Archive, holding that UpCodes’s use goes beyond that required to qualify as a derivative: “Whereas IA’s purpose was limited to the publishers’ original purpose, UpCodes’s use has a distinct purpose: to disseminate the law.”

As for the second factor, the court determined that the nature of the work—factual technical standards—strongly supports fair use, and their incorporation into law moves them further to the periphery of copyright’s core protection. The third factor also favored UpCodes; the court held that it was reasonable for UpCodes to copy the entire standard in full, as that is necessary for people to interpret and use the law. Finally, the court determined that the likely market harm from UpCodes’s use appears limited, but viewed the fourth factor as equivocal.

ARL joined an amicus brief by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in support of UpCodes, arguing that no private party can own the law or ration access to it. Amici include Public.Resource.org, Watch Duty, IFixIt, ALA, Public Knowledge, and Library Futures.

ARL has intervened in previous related litigation, including ASTM v. Public.Resource.org and State of Georgia v. Public.Resource.org, in which the US Supreme Court held that the government edicts doctrine forbids copyright restriction on laws incorporated by reference. Libraries and archives rely on the government edicts doctrine to provide public access to government information.

Members of Congress have also introduced bills that would explicitly extend copyright ownership to standards. ARL’s position has been that Congress does not need to act in order for nonprofits, startups, and libraries to provide functional and free public access to the law.

The post Court Rules in Favor of Public Access to Information appeared first on Association of Research Libraries.

Ep 18. What the REF is happening with books?! Interview with Gareth Cole | YouTube

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 07:41:00 -0400

This week on What the Ref, the team heads to Plymouth for a lively workshop on non-traditional outputs before diving into a fascinating interview with Gareth Cole on the future of open access books. From monographs to “long-form” research, they unpack the challenges of defining openness, funding models beyond book processing charges, and the tension between flexibility and REF policy. Is the system sidelining books—and entire disciplines? Plus, new REF folklore debunked: can novels and trade books really be submitted? A sharp, thought-provoking episode on where research publishing is heading next. Our hosts are all members of the Hidden REF committee based at the universities of Southampton and Bristol: Simon Hettrick, James Baker and Ola Thomson, and our producer is Ben Thomas.

European University Press Survey 2026 | AEUP

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 07:38:00 -0400

Publishing is one of Europe’s largest cultural industries, yet university presses and institutional publishers remain largely invisible in data, policy, and infrastructure debates. While commercial scholarly publishing is extensively documented, the diverse, non-profit, institutionally embedded publishing landscape is not. To address this gap, AEUP launches a Europe-wide survey mapping university presses and other institutional publishers. The aim is to build a structured, evidence-based picture of how institutional publishing actually works across Europe: publishing profiles, workflows, governance and funding models, and approaches to Open Access with a particular focus on Diamond OA. [...]

IOP Publishing launches free open data course for early career researchers - IOP Publishing

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 07:04:00 -0400

"As transparent, reusable research data becomes increasingly central to research integrity, reproducibility and funder requirements, IOP Publishing has launched a new, free, open data training course designed to give early career researchers (ECRs) the practical skills and confidence they need to share and manage research data effectively. The course has been developed in direct response to demand from the physical and environmental science communities. In 2024, IOP Publishing released a major study analysing data sharing practices across more than 30,000 published articles. It showed that although more researchers want to share their data, many still encounter a wide range of practical, ethical and technical barriers. The course provides clear, hands‑on guidance to making research data openly available and demonstrates how strong data practices can enhance the visibility, credibility and impact of researchers’ work. Areas of focus include ethical considerations, repository selection, licensing and long‑term data stewardship. Delivered entirely online and free of charge, the course enables learners to progress at their own pace, with content presented in bite-size modules. Participants receive a course certificate when passing all modules. Since the course is offered through the IOP Excellence training portal, learners can also take the popular, free Peer Review Excellence training which is offered through the same platform."

arXiv is becoming an independent nonprofit – arXiv blog

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 06:59:00 -0400

"This summer, arXiv is taking a big leap. On July 1, 2026, after decades of growth and productive collaboration with Cornell University, arXiv is branching out and becoming an independent nonprofit. arXiv turns 35 this year, and becoming a stand-alone nonprofit is the logical next step for us as a pioneer of open access research. A platform built for scientists, by scientists, our mission since 1991 has been to advance scientific discovery by supporting researchers with a free, fast, and reliable open service. With this new phase, arXiv’s mission will remain the same. The goal of this transition is to allow arXiv to better support its mission and serve the scientific community that relies on us by granting arXiv greater organizational flexibility, faster technological development, the ability to enter into expanded partnerships, and creating a foundation for long-term financial sustainability."

AI and Library Publishing: A Reflection | Society & AI | Society-Centered Artificial Intelligence Research & Practice

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 06:55:00 -0400

"With the rise of AI entering all fields of publishing, it was inevitable that it would affect the world of library publishing too. By library publishing, I am referring to library programs ranging from small Open Educational Resources (OER) publishers to well-established university presses. As a Scholarly Communications Librarian and manager of an OER publishing program, my conversations with authors now include discussions about the use of AI. Some faculty members support using AI in their work enthusiastically, while others are more hesitant. Part of that hesitation comes from a philosophical component that AI in publishing challenges: if an OER is open, does that mean that AI has a right to use (or learn from) it too?"

MDC blog Cross-Post: The Road to Open Science Requires Making Data Count Better

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 06:53:00 -0400

"New reports tracking the benefits of Open Science practices such as data sharing have presented inconsistent results, but better scholarly metrics for data and more systematic analysis will make the outcomes and benefits of Open Science clearer. As a metadata nerd and wearing my hat as a Make Data County Advisory Group Member I vented my thoughts and motivations on the topic of scholarly metadata in a post that I published last week in the Make Data Count blog, and for wider exposure I thought would also be useful to share here. Make Data Count being an initiative that promotes the development of open data metrics to enable evaluation of data usage."

Supporting the University Research Enterprise via Open Access Publishing: Case Study from a Carnegie Research 2 University

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 12:36:00 -0400

Academic libraries support the mission and vision of their institution; in the case of most universities, this means providing a variety of services and resources in support of the research enterprise. This case study documents one library’s support for open access publishing to explore how it directly supports the research mission of a Carnegie Research 2 university. By leveraging relationships and investing existing collections resources and workflows—the sequence of decisions and labor through which librarians make scholarly and artistic works discoverable, accessible, and support their preservation—in open access publishing, the library has materially increased the visibility of locally produced scholarship and become a more visible campus collaborator.

Diamond Open Access and journals published in the field of Library and Information Science: a study on the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) | Journal of EAHIL

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 08:17:00 -0400

Abstract: Open Access (OA) advocates are increasingly recognizing that the Article Processing Charge (APC)-based model should be overcome to develop alternative solutions capable of enabling the full and definitive establishment of OA in scholarly publishing. The Diamond OA model is seen as one of the possible solutions even if the journals using this model must cope with sustainability problems along with visibility issues. With the aim of assessing its current use among the Library and Information Science (LIS) Diamond OA journals, this study analyses their presence in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

Drug metabolism and personalized therapy is switching its publication model to open access

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 07:51:00 -0400

"The new year of 2026 marks the beginning of a new chapter for the journal Drug Metabolism and Personalized Therapy. In cooperation with the editors, the publisher will convert the journal to Diamond Open Access in accordance with the Subscribe to Open (S2O) model, on a year-by-year basis. Starting in 2026, all articles will immediately appear under the Creative Commons license CC-BY at no publication costs for the authors. The open access transformation is based on an alternative, sustainable, and equitable approach to transitioning subscription-based journals one year at a time, through the continuation of existing subscriptions. The prerequisite for successful transformation is that subscriptions are continued to the same extent as before. The editors of the Drug Metabolism and Personalized Therapy and the publisher De Gruyter Brill would, therefore, like to thank all subscribers for their support."

Do institutions value peer-reviewed open educational resources? Insights from biology lesson authors | Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 05:54:00 -0400

Abstract: Open educational resources (OERs) are freely accessible and adaptable teaching materials. In biology, OERs in the form of published lesson plans have steadily increased over the past 20 years. These lesson plans cover core concepts in biology and act as guides to incorporate evidence-based teaching practices into courses. The development and publication of these resources also provide an opportunity for the recognition of teaching-focused scholarship. Journals that publish peer-reviewed OERs provide credit through citable references, allowing authors to be recognized for tenure, promotion, and advancement decisions. Yet, despite this potential for recognition, little is known about how authors perceive the value of these publications or how well they align with institutional reward systems. Here, we surveyed first authors of published peer-reviewed OERs and found that authors across institutional contexts personally valued their publications. However, there are significant differences in how authors at Non-Doctoral and Doctoral-granting institutions perceive how their institutions value OER publications. These results provide a foundation by which biology departments and institutions can strengthen support and recognition for OER authorship. Moreover, having guidance for how peer-reviewed OER publications count for decisions around professional advancement and recognition may be beneficial, especially for faculty in teaching-focused positions.

Open with care: Best practice for sharing research data responsibly - Vigilanti - Equine Veterinary Journal - Wiley Online Library

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 05:49:00 -0400

Not even an abstract is OA.

Data sharing statements in five high-impact anesthesiology journals (2020–2023): a cross-sectional study | Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d'anesthésie | Springer Nature Link

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 05:40:00 -0400

Abstract: Purpose In this study, we sought to evaluate the presence, quality, and accessibility of data sharing statements (DSS) in research articles published in five high-impact anesthesiology journals from 2020 to 2023. Data sharing is foundational to research transparency and reproducibility. As anesthesiology evolves, understanding how DSS are implemented in selected high-impact journals can inform open science efforts within anesthesiology research. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of five top-ranked anesthesiology journals selected using 2023 Clarivate Journal Impact Factor (JIF) rankings. Eligible studies (2020–2023) were screened in duplicate using Rayyan, and data were extracted using a structured Google Form. We used a large language model (ChatGPT, GPT-4) to aid in the exploratory thematic development of DSS, with manual validation by investigators. Results Among 1,123 included articles, DSS prevalence varied by journal and year. In Anaesthesia, Critical Care & Pain Medicine, articles with DSS increased from 15% (4/26) in 2020 to 30% (9/30) in 2023, whereas the prevalence of DSS remained below 8% in Anesthesia & Analgesia. Government-funded studies were more likely to include DSS (β = 0.734, P = 0.047), while higher JIF was negatively associated with DSS inclusion (β = −0.298, P = 0.008). Thematic analysis showed “Conditional Data Availability” was the most frequent DSS type (74%). Of authors contacted, 28% responded, and 14% ultimately agreed to share data for replication. Conclusions We found that DSS were underused in leading anesthesiology journals. Strengthening journal policies, funder mandates, and education on data sharing practices may promote greater transparency in anesthesia research. Because our analysis focused on a limited sample of journals, findings may not be generalizable to the entire field of anesthesiology.

Data Availability Statements of Publications in Journals Indexed in the Dentistry, Oral Surgery and Medicine Category of Journal Citation Reports: A Meta-Research Study - ScienceDirect

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 05:39:00 -0400

Abstract: To evaluate the frequency and types of data availability statements (DASs) of publications in journals indexed in the Dentistry, Oral surgery and Medical (DOM) category of Journal Citation Reports (JCR) database, and to identify risk indicators associated with the presence of DASs in publications. We searched PubMed on October 18, 2024, for publications presenting original research involving human subjects, published in journals indexed in the DOM category of JCR database, after July 1, 2023. Each included publication was assessed for DAS, which was categorised into different types using Springer Nature’s standard DAS framework. The risk indicators regarding author, study and journal levels were extracted. Logistic regression analysis were performed to assess the association between the risk indicators and the presence of DASs. A total of 998 publications were included. Fewer than half (49.7%) of the included publications contained a DAS. The 2 most common DAS types were datasets being available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request with a prevalence of 40.4% (N = 403) and authors directly providing the repository and/or weblink for the datasets with a prevalence of 3.0% (N = 30). The presence of DAS was significantly associated with funding status of publications, journal impact factor and journal requirement on DASs. DASs appear infrequent in publications in journals indexed in the DOM category of JCR database. Funded studies published in journals which require a DAS and journals with a higher impact factor were more likely to contain a DAS than studies which were not funded and published in journals which do not require a DAS with a lower impact factor.

The politics of open knowledge: production, certification...

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 04:48:00 -0400

This article is based on a keynote speech given at the OASPA conference in Leuven on 22 September 2025 critically analyzing the power relations surrounding open knowledge. The central thesis is that what matters is not who owns knowledge, but who can use, produce and evaluate it – depending on social, cultural and financial capital. Without these resources, open knowledge remains available but not equally usable. The core problems lie in knowledge production and evaluation: peer review processes, database indexing and ranking systems determine the visibility and recognition of knowledge. However, the effectiveness of these procedures is the subject of intense debate, as is the inadequate implementation of standards, the indexing of dubious journals and systematic distortions in favor of the Global North, renowned institutions and established publishers. It is therefore less a question of ownership and more a question of power: who can produce knowledge, and who decides on its credibility and dissemination? Political developments are manifesting themselves in cuts to open access budgets, restrictions on access to research data and even the suppression of undesirable knowledge production. In response, ‘dark archives’ (e. g., for arXiv at the TIB; Tobschall et al. 2025) or data backups (e. g., of PubMed by ZB MED) are being created to preserve scientific autonomy. AI also jeopardises open access principles by failing to cite sources when processing open content, which undermines copyright laws. One possible, albeit unrealistic, solution would be for publishers to voluntarily commit to only granting access to AI systems that cite sources correctly. Technical access restrictions for AI would run counter to the very idea of open knowledge. This reveals a fundamental dilemma between regulation and openness. Community-supported frameworks are proposed as a solution, such as a ‘Trusted Open Knowledge’ label that guarantees source references, establishes transparent evaluation and addresses structural inequalities. The central question remains: Who does science serve, and who determines what counts as knowledge?

Public Access to Scholarly Publications and Digital Scientific Research Data | USDA

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 08:10:00 -0400

"This Departmental Regulation (DR) establishes the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) policy for public access to scholarly publications and digital scientific research data assets. The USDA will make all peer-reviewed, scholarly publications and digital scientific research data assets arising from unclassified scientific research supported wholly or in part by the USDA accessible to the public, to the extent practicable and in keeping with enhanced research security to protect our agricultural research enterprise from foreign influence."

‘Why is publishing so expensive?’ | Journal of Experimental Biology | The Company of Biologists

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 05:45:00 -0400

"For those of you who want the take-home message up-front, the two key points we want to make here are firstly that quality editorial assessment and publishing involves a lot of people (meaning our largest costs are staff salaries and, to a lesser extent, Academic Editor stipends), and secondly that publishers have had to invest heavily in technologies to support professional and trustworthy online publishing – there's a lot more to it than just posting an article on a website. But, before we get into the details, here's how a typical conversation with a researcher might go when talk turns to money: ..."

Why science has a credibility problem — and how to address it

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 05:31:00 -0400

"This week, Nosek and colleagues are releasing the results of a project called Systematizing Confidence in Open Research and Evidence (SCORE). The effort examined whether social-science papers hold up to reanalysis, either when using the same data or in fresh studies, and whether replicability can be predicted. Nature talked to Nosek about his work and what can be done to improve the practice of research."

A New Age of Open Access for the Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 05:22:00 -0400

"As noted earlier, we do have some exciting news to share about how your editorial board and executive committee hope to extend our reach for both acquiring new authors for JAMS and new members for the AAV too. The AAV was approached by BioOne, the global nonprofit organization that provides a digital library for nearly 219 journals, to participate in a pilot study called “Subscribe to Open” (S20). This offer was limited to 71 journal titles from 54 members of its publishing community. The goal of this program is to offer open access for these titles during the calendar year so that this material is made available to all for up to 3 calendar years. Your editorial board and executive committee believe this will serve as a great way to reach out to colleagues working with birds who are looking to publish in open access journals, increasing our submissions, and for those who may not have the resources to access this material, including students. As a nonprofit, this is in line with our stated mission: “The Association of Avian Veterinarians is a diverse global professional organization dedicated to advancing and promoting avian health, welfare, and conservation through education, advocacy, and science.” We believe that this opportunity will provide students and colleagues with limited resources an opportunity to gain access to the amazing evidence-based material our journal provides and ultimately serve as a recruiting tool when their resources allow them to join. A growing challenge with publishing is that academic institutions are directing their faculty toward open access titles; however, cost is a real concern with this movement. Article processing fees in not-for-profit and for-profit journals can range from more than $1000 to $12 690 for a single article.2,3 Historically, these types of fees might be paid through grants, but the monies available in grants have not kept up with these rising fees, and some grants do not provide funds for publishing fees. In the field of avian medicine and surgery, publishing fees of this magnitude are cost-prohibitive. BioOne, as a nonprofit, recognized this challenge and looked to partnerships with organizations such as the AAV to make a real difference. As a result, the open access articles published in JAMS will continue to be at no cost to the authors. We believe that this model will expand our reach in the field of avian medicine and conservation, opening new doors that might not have otherwise been identified. Moreover, if you want to make a difference in this world and pay it forward, this represents a great opportunity for us as an organization."