ALLEA Publishes Statement on 'Equity in Open Access'

The statement was prepared by ALLEA’s Open Science Task Force, on the occasion of the 2021 International Open Access Week (25-31 October), and was released on ALLEA’s website and social media channels on Monday 25 October. The ALLEA Open Science Task Force, of which DRI Director Dr Natalie Harrower is a member, aims to contribute to the development, coordination, and implementation of Open Science policies and initiatives with a particular emphasis on issues relevant to the greater European area.

The statement addresses changes in publishing related to Open Access, cautioning that ‘gold’ open access publishing routes and large read-and-write deals do not address the full spectrum of researcher needs, and could contribute to establishing inequitable structures within academic research. The statement builds on the 2021 theme of the International Open Access Week, ‘It matters how we open knowledge: building structural equity’, which was in turn inspired by one of the four core values of Open Science, as defined in the recently released UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science.

Find out more on the ALLEA website.