SAVE THE DATE
18th BERLIN OPEN ACCESS CONFERENCE
15–17 September 2026, Harnack House, Berlin, Germany
As the culture of scholarly communication continues to shift toward openness—anchored in the principles of transparency, inclusivity, sustainability, integrity and trust—B18 will bring together the global research community to refine and shape the next phase of this transformation. Building on tangible progress in open access publishing, the conference will take a broader and deeper perspective: examining not only the redirection of financial flows from paywalls toward open dissemination, but also the interconnected elements—such as open metadata, transparent workflows, and shared infrastructures—that are essential to securing academic sovereignty, financial sustainability, and integrity in research communication in the age of AI.
Over three days, leaders from research institutions, libraries, publishers, funding organizations, and scientific communities will engage with the results and strategic lessons of publisher open access negotiations, exploring both effective and problematic practices that shape the pace and fairness of the transition. Discussions will focus on transparent pricing, sustainable and equitable models of cost distribution, and collective approaches to negotiation that align investment with the core values of the community. The conference will also surface benchmarks in open access agreements, highlighting pathways that ensure accountability, long-term affordability, and trust between the scholarly community and commercial partners.
Practical sessions, led by OA2020 working groups, will provide opportunities to explore sustainable financing strategies, transparency frameworks, author-centric processes, and approaches for building equitable and trusted systems of scholarly communication.
Further details will be shared on this webpage in early 2026.
B18 is organized by the OA2020 Initiative on behalf of the Max Planck Society.