(24 Jun 2026) SCOAP3 has released the results of its 2026 Open Science Elements evaluation, marking the second assessment conducted under Phase 4 of the initiative. The annual evaluation measures how participating publishers perform across a range of open science practices, including integration of persistent identifiers such as ORCiD and ROR, metadata quality, availability of data and…
(16 Jun 2026) On March 24, 2026, in response to a lawsuit by seventeen academics, a German Court ruled that a mandatory article manuscript deposit requirement imposed by the German State of Baden-Württemberg on researchers working or affiliated with educational institutions within the state was void ab initio. The plaintiffs had alleged that the deposit requirement infringed their…
(5 Jun 2026) Plans to ban US researchers from spending federal grants on open access fees unless requests are signed off by agency officials will do little to reduce publishing costs, experts have warned. Under proposed rule changes published by the Office of Management and Budget, all journal publication costs – “including page charges, article…
(15 May 2026) The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and the Society of China University Journals (CUJS) have announced a new partnership aimed at improving the visibility and discoverability of Chinese open access journals both within China and internationally. As part of the collaboration, DOAJ and CUJS will continue to co‑organize the DOAJ China Day event and participate…
(28 May 2026) Diamond open access (OA)—understood to mean publishing without fees for either authors or readers—is often framed as an aspirational model for a more equitable scholarly communication system. In global discussions, it is frequently associated with Latin America or European community-led initiatives. China, by contrast, is rarely part of this conversation. But this…
(4 May 2026) Increasing consolidation and commercial control over all aspects of knowledge comes at a cost. This year’s theme challenges us to consider the financial, human, and environmental costs of creating, sharing, and sustaining knowledge—particularly when these costs are driven by private rather than public interests. Last year’s theme of “Who owns our knowledge?” reflected…
(22 Apr 2026) In December 2025, the South African government approved a National Open Science Policy requiring that all research outputs arising from public funding be made available through open access. The Department of Science, Technology and Innovation published details of the policy in March 2026. The policy emphasizes that faster and less costly access to scientific…
(1 Apr 2026) “…for a long time, the predominant publishing model has not aligned with what scientists want and need from dissemination of their work. As early as 1991, pre-print servers began to show how open access (OA) could work. Then came organisations like the Public Library of Science (PLOS) that offered an open-access model that…
(1 Apr 2026) Cancer Research UK (CRUK) has announced it will cease funding open access (OA) publishing costs, arguing that the current model is failing to deliver a fair and efficient system for disseminating research. The world’s largest independent cancer research charity said the decision will save £5.2 million over the next three years and…
In Japan, open access policy emerged in a unique economic context and evolved separately from the broader movement. The result? Turmoil. (11 Mar 2026) Globally, the open access (OA) movement has long sought to liberate scholarly communication from commercial publishers. But Japan pursues open access and open science from a unique context; that approach…