Embracing Community-Driven Open Access in Scholarly Communications
In the spirit of Open Access Week 2024, we sit down with Anna Hughes, the Communication and Engagement Manager at Jisc and COPIM (Community-led Open Publication Infrastructures for Monographs), to discuss the importance of community over commercialization in the world of open scholarship.
Anna’s extensive experience in academic libraries and her current role in supporting Jisc members and collaborating with the COPIM team provide valuable insights into how we can encourage a shift towards more community-minded publishing models and the practical steps that can be taken to achieve this.
The Power of Community in Open Access
As Anna explains, community has always been a central theme in her work, whether it’s been engaging directly with open access librarians to understand their pain points or collaborating with subject matter experts and advocacy groups to educate and support Jisc members on open access (OA) policies and initiatives.
“Working in communications and engagement, I have always tried to put the community, or the audience, at the heart of what I do,” says Anna. “From working with directly with open access librarians to surface pain points around the UKRI open access policy and then developing resources to support them in conversations with researchers, to working with subject matter experts and advocacy groups from across the scholarly communications landscape to run workshops and webinars that supported and educated Jisc members around the UKRI policy and OA more generally.”
This community-centric approach has only become more important in Anna’s role with COPIM, where the idea of “Scaling Small” is a driving force behind the project’s work. The notion that small, diverse presses and publishing projects can become mighty when they work in collaboration with each other and with colleagues in universities, libraries, infrastructure providers, and beyond is a powerful one.
“In a time when commercial publishers are diversifying and increasingly investing in global research data and infrastructure platforms, it is vital that like-minded people and organisations come together, not only to ensure that essential structures will be unenclosed, open, and owned by the academic communities that rely on them but to avoid monopolies and ensure that bibliodiversity is sustainable and affordable for all,” Anna emphasizes.
Practical Steps Towards Community-Driven Open Access
One of the key challenges Anna has been addressing is how to support academic libraries in choosing which publishers and models to support when it comes to open access. With limited budgets, libraries must carefully evaluate which new models of open publishing they should invest in, as commercial publishing remains deeply embedded within the ecosystem.
“There are so many questions for libraries to consider and with limited budgets, how do libraries evaluate which new models of open publishing they should support? Commercial publishing is embedded within the ecosystem but it doesn’t mean they are the only publishers to support, especially when budgets are being cut and the topic of financial sustainability is coming to the fore,” Anna explains.
In response to this, Anna and her colleagues have been working on a collaborative, community-driven resource that provides a set of criteria for libraries to consider when evaluating which OA programs they should invest their money in. This practical resource, inspired by work being done by librarians at the Universities of Salford and St. Andrews, is designed to help practitioners have vital conversations with researchers, library colleagues, and budget holders about the benefits, risks, and costs involved in supporting community-driven OA publishing models.
“The more widely this topic is discussed, and these types of practical reusable resources / templates are shared amongst the community, the more likely it is that practitioners will have the materials and evidence needed to make their case upwards (i.e. with the budget holders!) for supporting OA publishing whilst making the benefits, risks and costs involved clear and identifiable,” Anna notes.
Highlighting Successful Community-Driven Initiatives
While the concept of community in Diamond OA publishing is not always the go-to, with competition between actors often present, Anna emphasizes the benefits of smart use of shared services, knowledge and expertise sharing, and potential cost savings for individual organizations as well as the scholarly communication and open access publishing ecosystem as a whole.
To that end, Anna encourages readers to participate in an upcoming webinar organized by the DIAMAS project on 23 October 2024, where they will be inviting anyone active or interested in the Diamond OA space to share their views and experiences in order to identify opportunities for future collaborations that will optimize expenses and facilitate financial sustainability.
“The concept of community in Diamond OA publishing, is not always the go to, with competition between actors often present. Smart use of shared services, sharing knowledge and expertise, and potentially saving costs in the process has benefits for individual organisations as well as for the scholarly communication and open access publishing ecosystem as a whole,” Anna explains.
Engaging with Open Access Week 2024
Looking ahead to Open Access Week 2024, Anna encourages both individuals and organizations to actively participate and contribute to the theme of “Community over Commercialisation” in their local contexts.
“While it can feel overwhelming at the amount of activity advertised during OA Week – especially on social media – it is a really good opportunity to learn, explore ideas and connect with practitioners,” Anna says. “Lots of academic libraries use OA Week to connect at a local level with the harder to reach groups (researchers come to mind!). It is a good ‘hook’ for connecting and starting conversations.”
Anna emphasizes the importance of using Open Access Week as an opportunity to not only raise awareness among researchers about the different ways to publish OA, but also to improve one’s own knowledge and make valuable connections within the community.
“Embedding ideas around the different ways to publish OA eg. via non BPC models and the reasons for doing so as early as possible in the research publication journey will encourage the authors of tomorrow to explore non-commercial publishers and perhaps even inspire practices of experimentation and reuse,” she suggests.
By actively participating in Open Access Week 2024 and embracing the theme of “Community over Commercialisation,” individuals, institutions, and organizations can take meaningful steps towards a more equitable and sustainable open scholarship ecosystem.
Get Involved and Stay Connected
To stay up-to-date on the latest developments in open access and community-driven initiatives, we encourage you to visit the COPIM website and follow their Twitter account. Additionally, be sure to check out the Stanley Park High School website for more educational resources and information.
Remember, by working together as a community, we can create a more inclusive and accessible future for open scholarship.
