The Urgency of Putting Community Over Commercialization

This year’s International Open Access Week theme, “Community over Commercialization,” highlights the urgency of addressing this central tension in the transition to open systems for research. This week, important conversations will take place around the world exploring which approaches to open scholarship prioritize the best interests of the public and the academic community, which do not, and what action can be taken by individuals and organizations.

In the months since it was announced, the relevance of this year’s theme has continued to increase. While there have been developments that tilt toward commercialization (from acquisitions to the invention of new author-side publishing fees), the past year has seen notable shifts toward prioritizing community interests.

There have been high-profile shifts by governments toward repository-focused funder open access policies (including by the G20, U.S., and Europe, complementing Latin America’s long history of leadership in repositories), and there is real momentum building for equitable options that decision makers can say yes to. Subscribe to Open is growing as a bridge for community-minded publishers to transition to Open Access, and more editorials boards are exercising their power to take back control of their journals. Demonstrating this momentum, this week will even feature a summit on diamond open access publishing.

To better surface how organizations reflect a commitment to “Community over Commercialization” in their own work, a series of profiles are available on the Open Access Week website that showcase the many ways communities can be prioritized in the shift to open research.

This week provides an opportunity to join together, raise awareness around the importance of community control of knowledge sharing systems, and take action—over the coming days and year-round. Participate in the discussion online using the hashtag #OAweek, and if you’re not already joining an event this week, consider taking part in one of the many locally organized discussions below.

A Selection of Locally Organized Open Access Week Events

Monday, October 23