Open Access Week 2023 at UZH
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During the International Open Access Week, academia around the world is focusing on scholarly communication. In this context, twenty UZH-projects that conduct open scholarship and make their research publicly accessible presented their work this year. An additional panel discussion between researchers, university management and research support put the spotlight on strategic and infrastructural issues and the future of the open access transformation.
The International Open Access Week takes place every year in October and for a few days, information events and discussions around the world draw attention to scholarly communication and open scholarship. “Community over Commercialization” was this year’s motto. It posed the critical question which approaches to open science actually focus on the interests of the public and the academic community.
At the University of Zurich, the motto prompted two questions to be explored in the course of an exhibition and a panel discussion:
- What ‘community-led Open Scholarship’ projects and initiatives are currently underway at UZH?
- What is the future of the open access transformation?
Community-led Open Scholarship: Poster Exhibition
Numerous dedicated researchers responded to the call to present their projects during the Open Access Week (see table below). The stage for this was provided by the “Community-led Open Scholarship” poster exhibition in the atrium of the UZH Center at the start of the OA Week.
The twenty initiatives from a wide range of disciplines have in common that they are committed to open scientific practice and make the results of their work freely accessible. In this endeavor, they challenge conventional publication traditions. Examples include open access journals from the fields of law and communication sciences, which have developed new publication concepts and successfully applied them — in some cases for decades. Archaeology, cultural anthropology, philosophy, theology and literary studies also presented forward-looking open access publication initiatives that emphasize their community-led structure.
The exhibitors showed that, in addition to article publications, the publication of software, methods and core datasets has also become a priority. In the latter case, data structuring opens up new research horizons, as demonstrated by projects from the fields of art history and linguistics at the intersection with the digital humanities.
The importance of open scholarship for disseminating knowledge beyond the academy and into society should also not be ignored. This goal was presented by initiatives from geography and political science with their open platforms that provide scientific information in an accessible way to the general public.
Open Access Transformation
Open access journals were prominently represented at the “Community-led Open Scholarship” poster exhibition. Without exception, the exhibitors operate their journals in the so-called Diamond Open Access model, which imposes no financial barriers on either recipients or authors.
The Diamond model is a hot topic in the current debate on fair and efficient scholarly communication and also played a prominent role in the panel on “Financing the Future of Open Access Transformation — but how?”. The panel consisted of Vice-Rector Elisabeth Stark, Head of Open Science Services Andrea Malits, and journal editors Torsten Hothorn and Silke Fürst. Together with host and PLATO project leader Daniela Hahn, the panelists reflected on where the OA transformation stands, where the challenges lie and what the future holds. Overall, the panelists agreed that communication as the “currency of scholarship” requires ways and means that advance research rather than hinder it. This premise has not yet been fulfilled.
Open Access Week throughout Switzerland
Similar events as the ones at the University of Zurich were held at higher education institutions throughout Switzerland during the Open Access Week. This year, for the first time, Open Access support staff from different institutions put together a program of the nationwide events. This was possible thanks to the cross-institutional coordination of various organisers in all parts of the country.
The concluding ‘Massive Online Opinion Event’ also took place jointly, offering researchers the opportunity to express their views on issues relating to the open access transformation.
What did we learn?
The Open Access Week highlighted how commonplace open scholarship can be in open-minded research environments. At the same time, various stakeholders are working on aligning the conditions more consistently towards the open reception, publication and re-use of scientific results and the direct benefits of research.
Samuel Nussbaum, Open Science Services
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