Open access publishing: 10 must-read resources to stay up to date
Open access (OA) publishing has been a transformative force in the academic community, democratizing knowledge and accelerating the pace of scientific discovery. Owing to the growing recognition of the importance of OA in scholarly communication, developments in this sphere have picked up momentum in recent years. Even funding agencies and institutions are increasingly adopting OA mandates.
Some very recent developments in OA include a series of new “read and publish” agreements by leading publisher BMJ, and a new “purpose-led” publishing coalition by the three main physics publishers (American Institute of Physics, American Physical Society, and IOP Publishing). Further, while Plan S has played a key role in making papers supported by participating funders freely available to read at the time of publication, a new and bolder plan is afoot.
Considering the speed at which developments take place in the sphere of OA publishing, it is imperative to stay informed about these trends and understand their implications for one’s publications and impact. In this post, I share 8 informative OA resources, including newsletters, dashboards, and blogs, that you can refer to and follow in order to stay up-to-date on this topic.
sOApbox
sOApbox or the Coalition S blog presents viewpoints, interviews, and practical guides related to Plan S and related initiatives. It seeks to educate and motivate both the academic and publishing communities about the importance of OA, while also laying the groundwork for its realization. This blog holds a wealth of resources on all matters related to the past, present, and future of OA.
Open Access Tracking Project
The Open Access Tracking Project is a community-driven resource that aggregates news and developments related to OA. Its primary goals are to provide timely notifications of developments in OA and to organize information within the field for convenient search and sharing.
Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) is a nonprofit group that advocates for open and equitable systems in research and education. Its offerings include resources, news, and advocacy tools to promote OA, including updates on policy developments, funding opportunities, and best practices in scholarly communication.
Institutions may sign up to be a part of their mailing list.
Scholarly Kitchen
The Scholarly Kitchen—a platform for open dialogue on scholarly publishing and communication—is a blog that aims to provide information about new publishing developments and share research reports and projects. In its archives, you can find plenty of OA-related posts.
Journalogy
Journalogy is a newsletter by James Butcher, an academic publishing expert. His newsletter provides a nifty digest of the latest in academic publishing, including recent OA-related news.
STM OA Dashboard
The STM OA Dashboard charts the progress being made by OA every year. It highlights essential facts and figures, such as the uptake of OA by model, discipline, region, and more.
Directory of Open Access Journals
If you are a researcher wanting to identify OA journals, finding them through a web search is not always the best approach. Using directories and databases of OA resources is a more pragmatic method. The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) indexes and provides access to high-quality OA journals, and the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) provides a similar directory for OA books.
Annual STM OA Progress Report
STM, a global trade association for academic publishers, published an annual OA progress report for the first time last year. In this report, key OA statistics have been provided in an easy-to-grasp manner. We can look forward to these annual OA reports from now on.
In addition, a newsletter by STM will be valuable to researchers interested in updates on OA publishing.
To conclude
Trends and developments in OA publishing are quite fast-paced and have the potential to shape the future of academic publishing and research dissemination. As researchers, you must make the most of available resources to stay updated on these trends so that you can choose the outlets for your research judiciously.
Besides referring to the resources listed above, you may also follow events such as Open Access Week. Open Access Week is an annual event (online and offline) that takes place in October, and it focuses on OA and related topics. Every year, it is centered around a relevant theme. It is worthwhile to look back at previous themes and events to learn about the changes and trends in OA publishing over the years.
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