Stockholm University highlights OA Week 2023
Open Access Week is an annual international event aimed at promoting open access to scientific publications. This year, the week took place 23–29 October, and the theme was "Community over Commercialization." Feel free to explore articles, webinars, podcasts, and videos on the topic published at Stockholm University.
This year's theme, "Community over Commercialization," seeks to encourage "a sincere discussion about approaches to open research that prioritize the interests of the public and the academic community – and those that do not."
Learn more about Open Access Week and the organization SPARC that sponsors the initiative
Stockholm University is highlighting the theme by showcasing the support available for researchers and doctoral students who wish to work openly. Additionally, the university is shedding light on the costs it incurs each year to access and publish scientific articles.
"We need to move forward from the transformative agreements"
Recently, a report was published by the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions' (SUHF) and their working group Beyond Transformative Agreements, with Astrid Söderbergh Widding, President at Stockholm University, serving as the chair.
– Subscribing to and publishing in scholarly journals is expensive, and costs are increasing. Additionally, the publishers' business model is based on researchers transferring the rights to their own work, despite the fact that in many cases this work is paid for with public funds, says Astrid Söderbergh Widding.
The primary recommendation of the BTA (Beyond Transformative Agreements) group is that the Bibsam Consortium should refrain from entering into reading and publishing agreements in hybrid journals. Instead, they should only enter into agreements for publishing in pure open-access journals.
– An international discussion is needed on how we should move forward beyond the transformative agreements – here is Sweden's contribution to this discussion, says Wilhelm Widmark, Library Director at Stockholm University Library and member of the BTA group.
Open access publishing costs are increasing at the university
Stockholm University currently spends a larger part on open access publishing than on accessing scientific articles, according to the latest compilation of costs for open publishing by Stockholm University Library.
– It's positive that costs have been redistributed, but we still pay far too much, says Wilhelm Widmark, Senior Advisor for Open Science at Stockholm University.
Course in open science: "Investment in your future research career"
Since 2022, Stockholm University has had a policy on open science. It states that, as far as possible, the university's research results and research data must be published under an open license and that data and results must be freely available. Several research funders require open access publishing, and open access is also becoming increasingly common internationally.
One way to support researchers at the university is the course Open Science for PhD students, 5 ECTS.
Beyza Björkman Nylén is a professor of English, a member of the reference group for open science at the university and is responsible for the doctoral course, which is given together with the University Library. She teaches the course together with Maria Almbro, Lisa Olsson and Sofie Wennström from the library. Beyza Björkman Nylén says that the course given in the spring semester of 2021 was highly appreciated with a large group participating with great interest.
– After the course, all the doctoral students agreed that it is no longer possible to be a doctoral student and plan your research future without knowledge of open science.
Doctoral students at the Faculty of Arts have priority for the course – but subject to availability, doctoral students at other faculties and higher education institutions are also admitted.
The new publishing platform SU Dynamica
SU Dynamica is a new publishing platform where researchers at Stockholm University can publish their work openly and at no cost, while also having their articles peer-reviewed. The articles receive a DOI and will eventually be registered in DiVA. The peer-review is done openly, and the platform automatically matches submitted manuscripts with suitable peer-reviewers based on their prior experience in their respective fields of expertise.
Would you like to learn more about SU Dynamica? Watch this video (10 minutes) in which Abeni Wickham, the creator of the platform, introduces users to the publishing platform.
Stockholm University Press – the university's own OA publisher
Stockholm University Press (SUP) is a researcher-led publisher that releases peer-reviewed books and journals openly accessible. In collaboration with authors and editors, the publisher produces books and journals within the fields of humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
The focus is on rigorous peer review, open access, and global dissemination. Publishing journals and books with open access means that they are available in digital format for free. This enables researchers worldwide to find and access the information they need without any administrative or financial barriers.
As part of the university, the operation is non-profit and transparent. Researchers from Stockholm University serve on all editorial boards responsible for the scientific quality of the review and publication. All decisions regarding publication are made by the Editorial Committee, consisting of researchers from all faculties at Stockholm University.
Read the blog post "The irrevocable shift to open science – and how we provide the infrastructure" on the Stockholm University Press Blog
Read an interview with Sonya Petersson on the importance of open access textbooks on the Stockholm University Press Blog
Support for researchers and PhD students
Are you a researcher or a PhD student at Stockholm University and want to know how to work in an open science system? Then there is substantial support available, whether it concerns the management of research data or scientific publishing.
Open Data
The main rule at Stockholm University is that research data should be published as openly as possible and as restricted as necessary, in line with the international FAIR principles.
Stockholm University's research data team is happy to assist you and also conducts visits to institutions and provides lectures and training when needed.
Read more about research data management
Open Publishing
To contribute to the advancement of research and secure your ongoing career as a researcher, you need to publish your research results. Articles, books, and research data should, as far as possible, be published with open access.
Through the link below, you can access a selection of the publishing services and support that the university offers. This includes information on how to publish with open access, strategic publishing, practical writing tools, copyright and open licenses, thesis support, as well as research evaluation and bibliometrics.
Read more about publishing support
Last updated: November 1, 2023
Source: Stockholm University