Thursday, June 1st 11am-2pm AEST
This workshop series is an opportunity for those who produce and fund research, including scientists and scholars, research administrators, libraries and library consortia, university leadership, science councils and grant funders, and ministries of research and education, to better understand the current tensions in the scholarly communication landscape and explore solutions.
As we move towards more open access to research, it is increasingly apparent that there is an emerging risk that as equity of access to read and use research increases, equity to publish decreases and that many actors in the research publishing ecosystem may become more disenfranchised than before. The causes of this inequity are not just financial but also structural and cultural. Many recent initiatives such as Plan S, UNESCO, and work from the International Science Council (ISC) have highlighted inequity as a challenge.
Open Access Australasia adopted “Equity in scholarly communications, to both access and publish research” as its key principle in 2020 and all its work is framed around this. In particular, we recognise that a well supported, diverse set of approaches to open access is essential to support equity in open access.
Open Access Australasia is convening an online workshop, in collaboration with OA2020 the ISC, cOAlition S and additional partners, to bring together a wide range of participants from across Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and the immediate region to discuss the challenges to equitable open access in 2023 in this region and to explore potential solutions. The ideas from this workshop will expand and build on insights gathered in a previous workshop focused on viewpoints from Africa and Europe, and will be used to inform the development of practical mechanisms and action lines to reduce inequities that can be taken up by the different actors in scholarly communication, globally and within the open access community in Australasia and the Asia Pacific.
The workshop will run for three hours and will be divided into three parts:
- A series of pre-agreed video vignettes (max 5 min each) that highlight key challenges.
- A facilitated breakout group discussion
- A general discussion of the issues raised through a panel discussion and participant input
Examples of topics of vignettes with a focus on the future that we would encourage:
- Developing capacity in the global publishing system for multiple forms of OA, beyond traditional publishers
- Supporting regional infrastructure for OA publishing – journals and beyond and ensuring appropriate recognition for this research
- Supporting Indigenous research publishing
- What are the funds needed to support open publishing and where should they come from – ie at the institutional or other level
- Funding for the infrastructure that supports activities around publishing
- The role of preprints and academic credit in increasing equity
We welcome contributions for vignettes even if you are not able to participate in the workshop.
Please email info@oaaustralasia.org for further information.
Register here
