Scientific societies play a central role in the transition to open access publishing. A new handout in German from the open-access.network project provides practical examples and tips on how they can strategically shape this change. The publication is aimed at executive boards, offices and members. It offers recommendations based on discussions with representatives of learned societies and experiences from the cooperative workshops.
Taking a stand and promoting diversity
Specialist societies can promote open access in a variety of ways: Through position papers, concrete strategies, the establishment of working groups or the provision of training opportunities. The handout also recommends actively involving members in discussions, using open infrastructures, founding new journals in open access or converting existing ones. Professional societies can actively support open science and shape a cultural change together with funding organizations, other professional societies and international initiatives.
Further Information
- The handout "Schritt für Schritt in den Open access" [German only] can be found on Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15296687
- Click on this link to access the report "Disciplinary offerings in cooperation with learned societies" on Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14512205