Empowering Science through Open Access: overcoming challenges

Open Access (OA) represents a transformative movement aiming to make scholarly communication, particularly peer-reviewed publications and data, freely accessible to all. This crucial achievement gained greater visibility within the framework of Open Science (OS) and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), supported by the imperative that public-funded research should be freely available to the public. Despite the clear ethical and practical benefits, reaching exponentially larger audiences is still a challenge.

Within the PATTERN project and based on the work done so far, this blog post observes the evolution and current state, gaps, and opportunities of Open Access (OA), pointing out some of the work being developed, regarding the creation of a set of training courses, having the University of Minho as topic leader for OA.

The evolution of Open Access

Open Access has its roots in early initiatives such as the Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002), which laid the groundwork for subsequent efforts. More recently, Plan S (launched in 2021), has provided a robust framework with its 10 principles aimed to ensure that all scholarly publications resulting from public or private funded research are made immediately available through OA platforms. Plan S has obtained support from several national and international funding bodies, yet its implementation faces some resistance, primarily from traditional publishing entities.

The progress in Open Science across Europe, largely driven by the European Research Area (ERA) and the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), are directly tied to the Open Access movement. By promoting transparency, reproducibility, and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data practices, these initiatives enhance the accessibility of public funded research. In a similar way the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (COARA) further aligns with Open Access principles by fostering equitable and inclusive evaluation practices. The UNESCO‘s global Open Science initiatives further support these goals by promoting accessibility and equity in science, reducing technological and knowledge divisions. These efforts collectively drive a more robust, open, transparent, and responsible scientific ecosystem, reinforcing the foundational goals of the Open Access movement.

Some challenges in achieving comprehensive Open Access still persist

Some obstacles that make the universal adoption of OA difficult:

• Several Routes to OA: there are multiple pathways to achieve OA, including gold, diamond, and green OA, each with its own complexities and acceptance levels across different research domains and geographies.
• Irregular adhesion: acceptance/adhesion to OA principles varies widely, influenced by local policies, institutional mandates, and the varying levels of awareness and support from the research community.
• Resistance from publishers: major publishers of scientific journals often oppose OA due to the potential disruption of their business models, complicating the transition to a more open dissemination practice.

What we can say about that:

In Portugal, universities have primarily driven the development of Open Access, implementing various initiatives to increase access to scholarly communication. In this field, the University of Minho has a word to say for its pioneering spirit to lead the first Portuguese Open Access efforts with the creation of its institutional repository, RepositóriUM, in October 2003, and the establishment of a self-archiving policy in January 2005. By mid-2008, the RCAAP (Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal – the national repositories aggregator) initiative was launched. Nationally, more than 50 institutional repositories are now aggregated in RCAAP, with 27 hosted on RCAAP infrastructure.

Almost at the same time (September 2009) the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) was founded, with the mission to put repositories as the cornerstone of a distributed, globally connected infrastructure for scholarly communication.

These examples represent local actions, which have certainly echoed and replications in several countries around the world, at different speeds, mobilizing the research community globally to organize itself and take the first steps on this giant wheel of science and open research knowledge.

Training and resources for Open Access

Training and awareness are critical to advancing OA. The recent mapping and assessment of training resources, developed by PATTERN project, reveals several insights:

• Training delivery methods: most OA training resources are available online, with a significant gap in blended learning approaches.
• Audience and expertise levels: most of the resources target beginners and are designed for broader audiences, including researchers and students. There is a notable lack of resources when it comes to advanced-level training.
• Content gaps: key topics such as funder requirements, repositories, and predatory journals reveal underrepresentation in the existing (assessed) resources. Additionally, specific OA routes and regional programs require more detailed exploration.

What we can say about that:

On this regard, just a quick note highlighting that several key Open Access training initiatives in Europe that have significantly advanced the OA movement. As an example and work source for PATTERN project, the FOSTER and FOSTER+ project, provided a comprehensive training resources to support researchers in adopting Open Access and Open Science best practices. These projects, have achieved extraordinary numbers, not only in terms of the volume of courses produced in e-learning format (self-paced and moderated), but also because of their leading role in training a community of trainers in Open Access and Open Science.

Also, OpenAIRE (Open Access Infrastructure for Research in Europe), born as an EU project and now has a legal entity, has been pivotal, by crafting a knowledge graph of scientific interoperable research information based on a network of repositories and professionals around Europe and by setting the basis to better disseminate and prepare the research community and promote OA. The European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) further supports training by evolving to a EOSC EU Node – a European platform and information gateway to explore, engage, and enrich research collaboration, by providing a catalogue of resources and tools for researchers to manage and share data effectively.  Collectively, these initiatives have played crucial roles in equipping researchers and institutions with the skills and knowledge to advance Open Access across Europe.

The PATTERN project is benefiting from all these sources to fulfil its main objective: “… promote the practice of Open and Responsible Research and Innovation (Open RRI) by developing and piloting training activities for researchers at all stages of their careers.”

 Addressing content gaps and enhancing training

To bridge the identified gaps and enhance the effectiveness of OA training it is intended to:

• Expand content coverage: develop comprehensive resources that cover underrepresented topics like funder requirements, repositories, predatory journals, and specific OA routes (e.g., gold, diamond).
• Promote Plan S: increased focus on Plan S principles and implementation strategies in training programs can help align global research practices with OA mandates.
• Designed for advanced learners: create advanced-level training resources that address the specific needs of experienced researchers, integrating practical applications and opportunities for networking with OA and RRI champions.

What we can say about that:

The specialized training program for OA topic under preparation will offer a variety of courses to enhance researchers’ understanding and engagement with Open Access (OA), taking into consideration all the relevant conclusions presented above, and going into more detail on the themes already highlighted with low representation in the previously assessed courses.

The courses are being designed for a diverse academic audience, including early career researchers and senior principal investigators, that will combine theoretical insights with practical tools to increase research visibility and support the broader adoption of Open Access principles.

Enhancing inclusivity and interactivity

Inclusivity and interactivity are pivotal for successful OA training with:

• Language diversity: While English dominates existing resources, offering training in multiple languages can enhance accessibility and engagement for non-English speaking researchers.
• Cultural competence: training should incorporate themes of diversity and inclusion, ensuring cultural competence, especially in public-facing areas like Citizen Science and Science Communication.
• Interactive learning: emphasize hands-on, interactive learning experiences that allow participants to apply theory to practice, fostering deeper understanding and retention.

What we can say about that:

To tackle some of these aspects, the courses that are being developed will be piloted by different institutions, in different countries, thereby assuming their particularities, not only linguistic but also of their scientific reality, which will serve as a motto for the more practical questions and different activities planned.

Ensuring quality and sustainability

For OA training to be impactful and sustainable it will need:

• Quality standards: establish clear criteria for evaluating training quality, including relevance, ease of access, and structured formats.
• Sustainable practices: promote the reuse of training materials, invest in ‘Train-the-Trainer’ courses, and integrate training into the existing institutional learning platforms. Regular updates and case studies to keep the training current and relevant.

What we can say about that:

In this regard, quality levels are being ensured in the production, through the use and adoption of pedagogical approaches and tools, in the reuse and adaptation of existing content, in the inclusion of use cases and working tools to explore and better and engage, on one hand; and on the other, with the integration of these resources into a Learning Management Systems (OpenPlato developed by OpenAIRE and based on Moodle) that will allow and facilitate its access, use, updating and reuse by the community.

As for the delivery method of the courses, they vary from face-to-face / blended, self-paced, and online. The self-paced courses are hosted on OpenPlato, ensuring easy access and a user-friendly experience. The Project-Based Learning (PBL) approach is also being applied to specific courses, encouraging active learning through practical application.

Incentives and recognition

Creating incentives and recognition mechanisms are crucial:

• Meaningful badges and certification: develop a standardized approach to badges and certificates, potentially through collaboration with authoritative bodies like EURODOC, to ensure they hold value across institutions.
• Institutional rewards: encourage research institutions to recognize and reward open and responsible science practices at key career progression points, leveraging the influence of funding organizations.

What we can say about that:

At this stage of PATTERN project, tools for different evaluation moments of all courses, regardless of the topic (Open Access, FAIR RDM, Responsible Research, Citizen Science, Science Communication, etc.), are being carefully analysed and created. This will include the two pilot phases, certification methods, and ways to collect participant feedback.

Conclusion

Open Access is a cornerstone of ethical, transparent, and accessible scientific research. While significant progress has been done so far, addressing the challenges and gaps in OA training and implementation is essential. By expanding content coverage, enhancing inclusivity, ensuring quality and sustainability, and creating meaningful incentives, the research community can move closer to realizing the full potential of Open Access. This not only democratizes access to knowledge but also accelerates scientific innovation and societal progress.

PATTERN project will bring for sure added value to the research community, by giving the possibility of enjoying and accessing a wide range of training courses and materials that will ultimately give them the knowledge, expertise and skills to do better science.

“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” – Sir Isaac Newton

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