On the 15th anniversary of the Budapest declaration, OpenAIRE held a workshop about the impact of Open Access and how to measure it. The workshop started with a strong call for the deployment of the disrupting power of Open Access. Firm political leadership is necessary to break the power monopolies have over research results, exploiting their position. To date, the full potential of Open Access to challenge the status quo, has not yet been reached. The strong statement rang through for the duration of the workshop, where different presenters demonstrating the stepping stones they developed to pave the path for a greater impact of scientific research outcomes through Open Access.
The workshop was divided into two major thematic parts: Measuring Open Access and the Impact of Open Access.
There are a few successful tools at hand to measure Open Access. A key questions in this process is, what is being measured? It was acknowledged that current forms of Open Access measuring need to strive to be more ambitious and overcome its current restrains. This is not only a question of infrastructure and technological possibilities, but also of quality and an aim for a broader pursuit. Measuring Open Access has the potential to be broadened to all forms of open research output and should aim to also monitor quality e.g. the fulfilment of the FAIR criteria concerning their data.
Until now, the impact Open Access can offer, has been widely theorised but proves to be much trickier to express in a measurable form. Open Access is said to create personal benefits for researchers in the form of higher citation rates and visibility, economical benefits in the form of return of investment and knowledge exchange and social benefits in the form of public disclosure and engagement. And although some of these benefits are visible and quantifiable, we need to close the loop to determine the indicators of how we measure OA impact. On the other hand there is a clear understanding and concern that there are pitfalls that need to be avoided to keep the strengths Open Access has, of being nullified.
The workshop helped survey the current possibilities to assess the impact Open Access can have and how Open Access can be measured. The key questions in this process are: How can we go beyond a one-dimensional quantification of measuring? How to understand impact of Open Access? And how can studying the impact of Open Access strengthen the pad towards Open Science? The workshop provided an understanding of how Open Access can give ways, not only through reducing cost and increase openness, to accelerating and amplifying a spectrum of benefits. If new challenges can be addressed and tackled, there is great potential for the impact of Open Access to realize its full potential.
The workshop was divided into two major thematic parts: Measuring Open Access and the Impact of Open Access.
There are a few successful tools at hand to measure Open Access. A key questions in this process is, what is being measured? It was acknowledged that current forms of Open Access measuring need to strive to be more ambitious and overcome its current restrains. This is not only a question of infrastructure and technological possibilities, but also of quality and an aim for a broader pursuit. Measuring Open Access has the potential to be broadened to all forms of open research output and should aim to also monitor quality e.g. the fulfilment of the FAIR criteria concerning their data.
Until now, the impact Open Access can offer, has been widely theorised but proves to be much trickier to express in a measurable form. Open Access is said to create personal benefits for researchers in the form of higher citation rates and visibility, economical benefits in the form of return of investment and knowledge exchange and social benefits in the form of public disclosure and engagement. And although some of these benefits are visible and quantifiable, we need to close the loop to determine the indicators of how we measure OA impact. On the other hand there is a clear understanding and concern that there are pitfalls that need to be avoided to keep the strengths Open Access has, of being nullified.
The workshop helped survey the current possibilities to assess the impact Open Access can have and how Open Access can be measured. The key questions in this process are: How can we go beyond a one-dimensional quantification of measuring? How to understand impact of Open Access? And how can studying the impact of Open Access strengthen the pad towards Open Science? The workshop provided an understanding of how Open Access can give ways, not only through reducing cost and increase openness, to accelerating and amplifying a spectrum of benefits. If new challenges can be addressed and tackled, there is great potential for the impact of Open Access to realize its full potential.