Open Access and the Humanities: A dialogue on future directions for Ireland

As research systems transition to Open Access models of dissemination, there is a need to foster a dialogue on impacts and support for disciplinary research communities. Together, Ireland’s National Open Research Forum (NORF) and the Irish Humanities Alliance (IHA) will host a workshop for researchers in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences to discuss future directions for Ireland’s transition to Open Access. 

This workshop will begin with an overview of issues and recent developments in Open Access and the Humanities by a panel consisting of:

• Martin Paul Eve, Professor of Literature, Technology and Publishing at Birkbeck, University of London
• Gabi Lombardo, Director of the European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities (EASSH)
• Pierre Mounier, Deputy Director of OpenEdition and Coordinator of OPERAS (EU infrastructure for open scholarly communication in the Social Sciences and Humanities)

Breakout sessions will then seek to elicit suggestions for strengthening the support for Open Access publishing in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. 

The purpose of this workshop is to translate the concerns of the national AHSS community around Open Access, as outlined in the IHA Position Paper on Open Access and other submissions to the recent NORF Landscape Report consultation into suggested solutions that can be considered by NORF. This workshop will explore how to make Open Access more inclusive for AHSS researchers, focusing on the following areas: 

• The publishing practices that are unique to AHSS researchers
• Particular funding challenges and/or other obstacles to publishing OA
• Positive actions that can be taken to make OA policies and support more inclusive

Discussions will contribute to a policy brief being developed by NORF on support for diverse publishing practices (bibliodiversity) in the Irish landscape.

Registration for this event is now open via Eventbrite. 

Programme:

Welcome and introduction – Daniel Bangert (NORF)
Panel on Open Access and the Humanities – Martin Paul Eve, Gabi Lombardo, Pierre Mounier
Discussion and Q&A
Breakout room discussions with facilitators
Closing panel and Q&A – chaired by Niamh NicGhabhann (IHA)