The European Commission sums up the positives of OA best: “Nowadays, it is widely recognized that making research results more accessible contributes to better and more efficient science, and to innovation in the public and private sectors.” But is the transition happening quickly enough?
Springer Nature recently surveyed 200 professional staff working in research institutions and libraries around the world to gauge their opinions on OA, including when they think it will become the dominant publishing model.
Inside the Results of Springer Nature’s OA survey
70 percent of the respondents agreed that all future research articles, scholarly books and research data should be accessible via OA, while almost all (91%) said ‘open access is the future of academic and scientific publishing.’
Reporting on the findings, Research Information noted that the outlook for an OA future differed among researchers and authors. In a 2017 survey of Springer Nature authors, 67% agreed that OA is the future, compared to the 91% of researchers in 2018.
Related Reading: Defining Open Access in 4 Minutes or Less
Most respondents said the move to all future scholarly articles being made accessible via open access was only just a matter of time, with two-thirds hopeful it could happen within 10 years. But, there’s a desire for the transition to happen quicker, with respondents showing a low level of satisfaction with the current speed of progress.
Respondents were asked to leave their comments at the end of the survey, in order to get a more detailed view of progress. It was identified that open science is on the agenda of many organizations and funders, acting as a key driver of open access. Meanwhile, research data sharing was found to be somewhat lacking in terms of policy and education.
Commenting on the findings, Carrie Calder, VP for Business Development and Policy, Open Research at Springer Nature, said it was apparent that while the benefits of OA are resonating, many researchers are still struggling to share data so that it is easy found and used by other.
She called the rise of open research “one of the major forces reshaping the way that researchers collaborate to advance discovery,” adding that open science “beckons with innumerable rewards.”
Ready to learn more about OA? Check out these resources:
- Understanding Open Access Research Content in the Corporate World: 4 Need-to-Know Terms and Their Definitions
- 3 Simple Ways to Support Your OA Ecosystem
- 5 Tips for Keeping Your Finger on the Open Access Pulse