A virtual seminar jointly co-organized by the Science, Technology and Innovation Unit
& the Marie Curie Library: 

Two talks by Dr. Tony Ross-Hellauer and by Prof. Jean-Sébastien Caux


Video recording of the seminar at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_El3UCRp1Ps


 

          Abstracts

 Talk 1 - Open science, done wrong, will compound inequalities: Reflections on dynamics of cumulative advantage and threats to equity in open environments
 
Tony Ross-Hellauer
(Graz University of Technology)
 

Open Science holds the promise to make scientific endeavours more inclusive, participatory, understandable, accessible, and re-usable for large audiences. However, making processes open will not per se drive wide re-use or participation unless also accompanied by the capacity (in terms of knowledge, skills, financial resources, technological readiness and motivation) to do so. These capacities vary considerably across regions, institutions and demographics. Those advantaged by such factors will remain potentially privileged, putting Open Science’s agenda of inclusivity at risk of propagating conditions of “cumulative advantage”. This talk will summarise work done within the EC Horizon2020 project ON-MERRIT (2019-2022, https://on-merrit.eu/) to investigate these risks, especially as they relate to the stratifications of publishing becoming visible as a result of Open Access models predicated on Article Processing Charges.

 

Talk 2 - SciPost and the reform of scientific publishing

Jean-Sébastien Caux
(University of Amsterdam)
 

SciPost is a not-for-profit publishing initiative conceived, implemented and run by professional scientists. Leveraging the idea of openness, it aims to increase the utility and meaningfulness of the peer refereeing process. Committed to scientific quality, it aims to offer high-quality publishing venues, thereby bringing control of publishing into the hands of active academics.

SciPost also implements a cost-slashing, institutions-backed consortial business model deprecating subscription fees or article processing charges, and aiming to shield scientists from the pernicious influence of profit-making in the publishing industry.
This talk will summarize operations since the launch of the portal in 2016, share experiences gained, and provide perspectives for future developments in the reform of scientific publishing.