9. May 2023

Global equity in OA publishing workshop 2: Asia-Pacific region

GLOBAL EQUITY IN OPEN ACCESS PUBLISHING
WORKSHOP SERIES ON PRACTICAL MECHANISMS AND ACTION PLANS TO REMOVE BARRIERS FOR READERS AND AUTHORS

Workshop 2
Viewpoints and contributions from the Asia-Pacific Region

June 1, 2023

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 improves, equity to publish declines 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.

In 2022, UNESCO, the ISC, the OA2020 Initiative, cOAlition S, Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL), the Association of African Universities, and Science Europe joined efforts to organize a series of workshops on equity in open access to be convened in three broad geographical locations: Europe and Africa; Asia-Pacific; and the Americas.

Open Access Australasia (OAA) adopted “Equity in scholarly communications, to both access and publish research” as its key principle in 2020 and its work is framed around this central tenet. In particular, OAA recognizes that a well supported, diverse set of approaches to open access is essential to support equity in open access.

OAA was therefore well placed to host the Asia Pacific workshop in collaboration with OA2020, the ISC, cOAlition S and additional partners, which was held June 1, 2023. This workshop brought 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, aiming to expand and build on insights gathered in the first workshop which focused on viewpoints from Africa and Europe

The workshop began with a series of pre-arranged vignettes that highlighted key challenges. These were followed by facilitated breakout groups, then a general discussion of the issues raised.

Workshop materials and outcomes
Workshop report
Video contributions
Slides

The organization of this workshop was a collaboration of

Contact

Please email info@oaaustralasia.org for further information.