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Participants at the Open Science Meetup offered recommendations for the growing list of activities the new Wiki Open Science Community should focus on. In a packed room in Paris, discussion turned from if such a group should be formed, to debating what the new community should prioritize, which included: 

• Policy: It was noted that providing a cross-border space between the chapters for sharing information on science policies would be extremely useful, emphasizing the need to help affiliates understand the stakes of these policies beyond the specific issue of copyright.

• Privacy: Some participants expressed apprehension about the shift of many large publishers toward data analytics business models. Concerns were raised regarding user privacy and the potential for these entities to track user data when editors access content (provided by large publishers through subscriptions), which conflicts with the Wikimedia community’s emphasis on privacy.

• Overview of open science projects in the movement: The participants discussed the need to create a comprehensive taxonomy or map of existing open science projects within the movement to identify how these initiatives intersect and where synergies exist.

• Coordination: Following on the need to map existing projects, the participants discussed the need to provide coordination between the affiliates to tap into the potential synergies through collaboration.

• Training on open access: To raise awareness of what information is available through open access, the group suggested developing a module on open access in WikiLearn.

• Open Access Signalling Project: There was interest in exploring the further development of the OA Signalling Project which indicates to a reader when an article in a reference is openly available and not behind a paywall.

• Infrastructure to support OA: It was suggested that the group should focus on advocating for infrastructure that allows for the easy and comprehensive citation of OA resources.

• Scientific visualizations and images on Wikipedia. A significant need for improved scientific visualizations and images was noted. Scientists rely heavily on figures and diagrams, and there is a major opportunity for the Wikimedia ecosystem to repurpose and refine this content, provided the materials are appropriately openly-licensed.

The project team, led by Wikimedia Sverige, Wikimedistas de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata, and BOAI Org, are meeting to determine next steps to take this work forward. More soon! 

The BOAI Org and the National Council of Rectors of Costa Rica (CONARE) are thrilled to partner with Latindex on the organization of the fourth event in our series of webinars addressing the worrying trend of no-fee OA journals adopting the APC model. The webinar will include stakeholders from the scholarly communication system in Latin America, discussing strategies academic journals can employ to avoid adopting the APC model.  Continue reading “Free Webinar: Strategies for journals to avoid adopting the APC Model”

Tomorrow marks the 24th anniversary of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI), which offered the first definition of open access. The Initiative proposed complementary strategies for realizing OA, and launched a worldwide campaign for OA to all new peer-reviewed research. Through consultations and convenings, the BOAI has provided critical global strategies which have been updated regularly. Our BOAI20 Recommendations emphasize that OA is not an end in itself, but a means to other ends –  above all, to the equity, quality, usability, and sustainability of research.

Over the past year, the BOAI has transitioned to an organization to advocate for the development of equitable OA, as called for in the BOAI20 Recommendations. The new organization has built strong partnerships which have contributed to the development of four core projects:  Continue reading “BOAI Celebrates Anniversary and Reflects on Progress of First Year as an Organization”

The BOAI Org and the National Council of Rectors of Costa Rica (CONARE) recently co-organized the third webinar in their series highlighting the need to protect the Latin American model of no-fee open access journals. The webinar featured stakeholders from the scholarly communication system discussing best practices for no-fee OA journals. The event was moderated by Arianna Becerril García and speakers included Barbara Rivera López, Silvia Arguello Vargas, Lúcia da Silveira, Paola Carolina and Iryna Kuchma. Simultaneous interpretation in Spanish, Portuguese and English was provided, and over 140 participants joined the discussion.  Continue reading “Best Practices for No-Fee OA Journals and Invitation to join Working Group on Mapping Institutional Investment in Equitable OA shared in Webinar “

Open access is about unlocking research and making scientific knowledge freely available to everyone.

For Wikipedians, it’s not an abstract ideal—it’s essential to ensuring people can find reliable, high-quality information where they already look for it.

Every month, thousands visit English Wikipedia to learn about climate change (75,000 readers), HIV/AIDS (70,000), or the Russo-Ukrainian War (300,000). Behind those pages are thousands of volunteers who curate and improve the content.

Open access helps them do that work. It lets research flow beyond academia and reach the public who need it.

But how do we build better bridges between Wikimedians and the open access communities worldwide? Continue reading “Strengthening Wikimedia Collaborations with and for Open Science  “

In celebration of International Open Access Week, the BOAI Org and the National Council of Rectors of Costa Rica (CONARE) are pleased to announce the organization of the third event in our series of webinars addressing the worrying trend of no-fee OA journals adopting the APC model. The webinar will include stakeholders from the scholarly communication system discussing best practices for no-fee OA journals. In addition, we will introduce the idea of the development of a resource to show institutional investment in the no-fee OA model to recognize those institutions that are supporting this equitable model and encourage others to do so.  Continue reading “Free Webinar: Best Practices for No-Fee OA Journals in Latin America”

The BOAI Org and the National Council of Rectors of Costa Rica (CONARE) recently co-organized the second webinar in their series highlighting the need to protect the Latin American model of no-fee open access journals which do not charge authors to publish or readers to access.*  The webinar focused on Brazil and speakers included Arianna Becerril García, Fhillipe de Freitas Campos, Andrea Mora Campos, Edna Montero, Peter Suber and Andréa Vieira. The event was moderated by Bianca Amaro with simultaneous interpretation in Portuguese, Spanish and English. Continue reading “Webinar raises correlation between adoption of APCs with rise of English-language publishing in Latin America”

The BOAI Org and the National Council of Rectors of Costa Rica (CONARE) recently co-organized a webinar that focused on the worrying trend of diamond open access journals adopting, or considering to adopt, the APC model. Speakers included Arianna Becerril-García, Leslie Chan, Saray Córdoba and Peter Suber. The event was moderated by Andrea Mora Campos with simultaneous interpretation in Spanish and English. Continue reading “Webinar Highlights Need to Protect the Diamond Open Access Model in Latin America”

The Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) offered the first definition of open access (OA) on February 14, 2002. The initiative proposed complementary strategies for realizing OA and launched a worldwide campaign for OA to all new research. Through consultations and convenings, the BOAI has provided detailed strategic recommendations, which it updated on its 10th anniversary in 2012 and 20th anniversary in 2022. Our recent BOAI20 Recommendations emphasize that OA is not an end in itself, but a means to other ends –  above all, to the equity, quality, usability, and sustainability of research. As a result, the BOAI offers a unique platform for discussions on OA strategies and their implementation.

Today, on the 23rd anniversary of our original declaration, we are pleased to announce that the BOAI is in the process of transitioning to play a more active role within the Access to Knowledge movement. The new organization will foster the development of equitable open access and support the adoption of policies, practices and sustainability models that make scholarly communications free to read and publish. The BOAI Org will provide support and guidance to accelerate the implementation of our 20th Anniversary Recommendations which address the systemic problems that obstruct progress towards the realization of our original vision that “an old tradition and a new technology have converged to make possible an unprecedented public good.” Continue reading “BOAI Transitioning to Organization to Support the Development of Equitable Open Access”