This week, we focus on equity, diversity and inclusion in open access. You can read about how PLOS have fared with their efforts to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive, and listen to two sessions from the University of Maryland on the topic. Next week (25 to 31 October 2021) is Open Access Week, and there is a wealth of sessions to listen to or attend, including the NetworkPharma panel webinar on plain language summaries, equity and open access.
To read:
Diversity, equity and inclusion at PLOS via PLOS Blogs | 4-minute read
In 2020, PLOS outlined several key areas that they would raise their efforts to make their journals more diverse, equitable and inclusive. This included an assessment of the diversity of their contributors, a pledge to improve the diversity of the publisher’s leadership and an effort to ensure that all manuscript handling processes are set up to recognize and minimize bias. PLOShave also made a commitment to be a publishing platform for research that studies inequalities, racism and inequities faced by minority and/or marginalized populations. Now, one year on, they provide an update on their progress in each of these areas, offering some insight into lessons learned and their next steps.
The size and shape of scholarly publishing via STM | 40-minute read
STM have published a global brief of the economics and market size of scholarly publishing in 2021. They have found that open access is growing more quickly than the underlying scientific publishing market in terms of both market and volume, which they expect to continue. They have also discovered that digital formats dominate the market share, with over three-quarters of publications appearing as digital resources that can be shared online.
Improving the discoverability of academic publications via Hindawi | 4-minute read
ResearchGate and Hindawi have announced a new agreement that will make all articles published in Hindawi’s open access journals directly available on the ResearchGate platform upon publication. The initiative aims to improve the discoverability, impact and visibility of published work. This partnership, launched in October, will also see more than 290 000 articles from Hindawi’s portfolio made available on ResearchGate by the end of 2021. ResearchGate, which has more than 55 million unique visitors each month, is one of the most prominent and discoverable repositories of scientists and their publications.
To listen to:
Equity and diversity in open access via University of Maryland
Open Access Week this year focuses on building structural equity and takes place from 25 to 31 October 2021. There will be hundreds of talks to listen to, including sessions from the University of Maryland on the role of open science in gender equity and how open access could be harnessed to enhance social justice in scholarly communication.
Open access and the publishing industry via Walled Culture | 40-minute listen
Walled Culture is a podcast series exploring the junction of technology and copyright, and the difficulties for users and creators to access, share and reuse both online and offline content. This episode features guest speaker Mirela Roncevic, a publishing expert who has launched several innovative projects related to e-books and digital content, and curates the website No Shelf Required. The podcast focuses on open access science and the publishing industry. If this topic area interests you, Adelphi University are also hosting a talk on funding open access book publishing on 28 October 2021. To register for the talk, click here.
To engage with:
NetworkPharma weekly webinar featuring Open Pharma via MedComms Networking
Join us on 27 October for a multi-stakeholder Zoom panel on plain language summaries, equity and open access, with a focus on our recommendations for plain language summaries of peer-reviewed medical journal publications. The panel will feature Slávka Baróniková (Galápagos), Adeline Rosenberg (Oxford PharmaGenesis), Kelly Soldavin (Taylor & Francis) and Alan Thomas (Ataxia and Me). Find out more and register for free here.
52nd EMWA Autumn Conference via European Medical Writers Association
This year, the European Medical Writers Association (EMWA) is running a hybrid conference both in London and online, featuring sessions on open access for medical publications, plain language summaries and real-world evidence. This includes a session from Open Pharma’s Chris Winchester on our recommendations for plain language summaries. The conference runs from 4 to 24 November 2021, and more information about the programme is available here.
Share your experience with open access via Science Open
Science Open are asking everyone in the scholarly community to participate in a short survey to learn about people’s experiences with open access. The results of the survey will be published on their blog during Open Access Week.
Have you read our recommendations for plain language summaries of peer-reviewed medical journal publications? Find out more here and join the discussion on social media using the hashtag #PlainLanguageSummaries!
