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WHAT IS WHAT IS OPEN ACCESS OPEN ACCESS? ?

Open access is a broad international movement that seeks to grant free and open online access to academic information, such as publications and data. A publication is defined as 'open access' when there are no financial, legal or technical barriers to accessing itthat is to say when anyone can read, download, copy, distribute, print, search for and search within the information, or use it in education or in any other way within the legal agreements. For authors (whose work is seen by more people), readers (who may access and expand on the most recent work in the area), and funders (whose work has a more significant impact since it can reach a wider audience), the free distribution of research is incredibly crucial.

The movement to make scientific research, data and dissemination accessible to all levels of an inquiring society. The practice of science in such a way that others can collaborate and contribute, where research data, lab notes, and other research processes are freely available, under terms that enable the reuse, redistribution and reproduction of the research and its underlying data and methods. To summarize, Open access ensures free, unrestricted access to academic content. Open science goes beyond, promoting transparency, data sharing, collaboration, inclusivity, and sustainable research practices. It's all about making sure scientists and the research process are open and accessible to everyone, to make the medical practice evidence-based.

PILLARS OF OPEN SCIENCE

OPEN ACCESS

Advocates for free and unrestricted access to scientific publications and research outputs.

It promotes the idea that scientific knowledge should be readily available to everyone, not hidden behind paywalls.

OPEN DATA

Open science encourages researchers to share their raw data and related materials with the public

This promotes transparency, reproducibility, and the ability for others to build upon existing research. To promote and bring open data to reality, a certain set of guiding principles are proposed, which follow 'F. A. I. R data' protocol

OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

Open Educational Resources (OER) are freely accessible, openly licensed educational materials that can be used for teaching, learning, research, and other purposes which can very well be digital. OER plays a crucial role in promoting open education, increasing access to quality educational materials, and fostering collaboration among educators and institutions.

OPEN, REPRODUCIBLE RESEARCH

An approach to scientific inquiry that emphasizes transparency, accessibility, and the ability for others to independently replicate and verify research findings. Open, reproducible research aims to address issues of transparency, rigor, and trustworthiness in scientific work by enabling others to build upon existing research, expanding on results ultimately increasing the credibility.

OPEN PEER REVIEW

Open peer review is a transparent and collaborative approach to the traditional peer review process in academic publishing. In standard peer review, the review process is conducted confidentially, with the identities of both the reviewers and the authors typically kept hidden. In open peer review, various aspects of the review process are open to scrutiny and involvement by a wider community.

TYPES OF OPEN ACCESS

REPOSITORY-BASED / GREEN OPEN ACCESS

Open repository

Free to publish

Free to read

Preprint

Author accepted manuscript

International examples include PubMed Central® (PMC) and Europe PMC. Articles may have a Creative Commons License applied, which specifies how the article can be used.

JOURNAL BASED / GOLD OPEN ACCESS

Pay to publish in a fully OA journal

Free to read

Publisher journals

This is the most open, least restrictive form of open access. The publication costs, known as ‘article processing charges’ (APCs), are covered by authors or by their institutions. Eg. PLOS ONE, eLife, BMC Medicine

DIAMOND OPEN ACCESS

Free to publish

Free to read

Community driven journals

Institutionally supported journal

These journals are often community-driven and supported by institutions or by national or regional infrastructure and hence they may not have a high-impact factor. Eg. Frontiers in series (Frontiers in Psychology), PLOS Biology.

HYBRID OPEN ACCESS

Pay article processing charge to publish the article as OA

Article is made free to read

The other articles in that journal require a paid subscription to access.

This type of open access always has an APC associated with it and these APCs are usually higher than for fully open access journals, despite that, it may be worth the higher price if your article fits the journal’s aims and scope perfectly. Eg. Nature Communications, Science Advances Journal.

BRONZE OPEN ACCESS

Freely available article

No open license

Not shareable or reusable

This refers to a freely available journal article that has no open license (and hence cannot be considered fully open access).

IMPORTANCE

Transparency:

Providing open access to scientific processes, encompassing data, methods, and results.

Accessibility:

Removing access barriers like paywalls and encouraging the reuse of research output.

Reproducibility:

Ensuring consistent results through shared data, methods, and code.

Quality:

Enabling better quality control, reducing bias risks.

Collaboration:

Promoting collaborations within and outside the scientific community.

Community Engagement:

Building trust in research for the benefit of communities.

Innovation:

Fostering innovation and creativity through transparent collaborations.

Scientific Efficiency:

Achieving more scientific outputs with the same resources.

Democratizing Scientific Knowledge:

Increasing access to scientific resources and making science more understandable.

Enhancing Research Capacity:

Addressing societal needs through visibility, community engagement, and open licensing.

Open Source Drug Discovery:

Creating open knowledge resources for tackling diseases, even in economically unrewarding areas.

For Governments:

Expanding access to learning and promoting lifelong learning through open educational resources (OER).

THEME

“COMMUNITY OVER COMMERCIALIZATION”

“Community over Commercialization” is the theme for this year ’ s International Open Access Week (October 23-29). This theme encourages a candid conversation about which approaches to open scholarship prioritize the best interests of the public and the academic community and which do not.

Adopted by its 193 Member States, the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science highlights the need to prioritize community over commercialization in its calls for the prevention of “inequitable extraction of profit from publicly funded scientific activities” and support for “non-commercial publishing models and collaborative publishing models with no article processing charges.”

When commercial interests are prioritized over those of the communities that research seeks to serve, many concerning issues arise.

This year’s theme provides an opportunity to join together, take action, and raise awareness around the importance of community control of knowledge sharing systems.

BENEFITS OF OPEN ACCESS

Publishing open access (OA) offers a number of benefits by removing barriers to our research journey. Open Access publications are read and cited more frequently, in a study they were cited 18% more than average. Therefore it drives forward the opportunity for global recognition, invention and innovation.

Compliance with open access mandates: Open access journals and books comply with major funding policies internationally.

FIVE KEY BENEFITS OF PUBLISHING OPEN ACCESS

Increased interdisciplinary conversation: Open access journals that cross multiple disciplines help researchers connect more easily.

Greater public engagement: Content is available to those who cannot access subscription content.

Increased citation and usage: Studies have shown that open access articles are viewed and cited more often than articles behind a paywall.

Wider collaboration:

Open access publications and data enable researchers to carry out collaborative research on a global scale.

CONTRIBUTIONS AS A MEDICAL STUDENT

Advocate for Open Access:

Raise awareness among your peers and faculty about the benefits of open access in medical research.

Publish in Open-Access Journals:

Whenever possible, choose to publish your research in openaccess medical journals. This ensures that your work is accessible to a wider audience, including patients and healthcare professionals.

Open Data Sharing:

When conducting research, consider sharing your data openly. Data sharing is crucial for transparency and reproducibility in medical research.

Preprint Publications:

Share your research findings on preprint servers that are open access. This allows your work to be accessible to the scientific community before formal publication

Advocacy for Open-Access Textbooks:

Encourage your institution to adopt open-access medical textbooks, which can significantly reduce the financial burden on medical students.

Participate in Open-Access Initiatives:

Join or support organizations and initiatives focused on open access in medicine. These groups often provide opportunities for involvement and advocacy.

Educational Resources:

Create open-access educational resources, such as study guides or summaries of medical topics. These can benefit fellow students and the wider community.

Open Science Collaboration:

Collaborate with researchers and organizations that promote open science in the medical field. By working together, you can make a more significant impact.

“By actively promoting open access in the medical field, you can contribute to the democratization of medical knowledge, improve patient care, and advance scientific progress while ensuring that your work reaches a broader audience.”

MYTH vs FACT

Myth1: OpenScienceleadstoalossofintellectual propertyrights.

Toprotecttheownershipofintellectualproperty rights,openscienceisessential.Traditional publishingcontractsoftenrequireauthorstogiveup allrightstotheirwork,limitingitsreachandimpact. However,theSPARCAuthorAddendumenables writerstokeepcontroloftheirarticles'fundamental rights,enablingthemtosharetheirresearch publicly.Adoptingopensciencehelpstoguarantee thatresearchisaccessibletomorepeopleand encouragesgoodmanagementofintellectual property.

Myth2:

OpenScienceincreasestheriskofresearch misconductandplagiarism.

Openscienceandresearchintegrityareinterlinked asbothaimtoprotectthereliabilityandvalidityof research.Researchintegritycoversmisconductsuch asfabrication,falsification,andplagiarism,while openscienceseekstoincreasetheopenness, accessibility,andreproducibilityofresearch.Open scientificapproaches,includingsharingresearch dataandprocedures,helptopreventplagiarism andmisconduct.Transparencyisessentialtokeep researchersaccountableandallowotherstojudge thereliabilityofthestudy.Ethicalresearchprotocols, suchasutilizingprovenmeasuringtoolsand maintainingthoroughrecords,arecrucialto sustainingstudyintegrity.

Myth3: OpenSciencelacksqualitycontroland peerreview.

Liketraditionaljournals,reputableopen-access journalarticlesgothroughthesamepeer-review processasthosepublishedintraditionaljournals. Withanimpactfactorof12.5,PLoSBiologyis rankedfirstoutof86journalsinthebiology categorybytheJournalCitationReport.BMC Biologyisranked#8withanimpactfactorof5.2. Morethan101BioMedCentraljournalshave officialimpactfactors.In2011,21journalsreported theirfirstimpactfactors.Ofthe80journalswith existingimpactfactors,53sawanincrease,while only27sawadecrease.Theeffectfactor increasedby0.20pointsonaverage.

Myth4: "OpenAccessisjustawayforlibrariesto savemoneybyshiftingthecostof scholarlypublicationstoauthorsand fundingagencies"

SeveralOAjournalsdonotchargeAPCssince academicinstitutionsorlearnedsocieties financethem.Furthermore,manyjournalsthat chargeAPCsfrequentlywaivethementirelyor partlyiftheauthorhasfinancialdifficulties.The fundingorganizationsortheauthors'institutions occasionallypaytheopen-accessAPCs.

Myth5: OpenSciencedevaluestheroleofacademic publishers.

OpenSciencedoesnotdiminishthe significanceofacademicpublishers.It acknowledgesthevalueofeditorialskill,quality assurance,andresearchdissemination.Open Sciencepromotesprogramsthatassure sustainablepublishingmethodswhile enhancingtheaccessibilityandimpactof research,anditencouragespublishersto embraceopenaccessmodels.

Myth6:

OpenScienceistoocomplexandtimeconsumingforresearchers.

Thoughitcanneedsomemodificationsand earlywork,embracingOpenSciencemethods eventuallyimprovesresearchefficiency,cooperation,andeffect.Researchproceduresare streamlinedbyopensciencetoolsand platformsthatenabledatasharing,version control,andcollaborativeworkflows.

Myth7: OpenScienceistooexpensiveand

unsustainable.

Opensciencepromotescooperation,datasharing, andpublicavailabilityofresearchfindings,resulting inlong-termfinancialsavingsandproductivitygains. Studiesevaluatingtheeconomiceffectsofopen scienceusetechniquessuchascost-benefit analysis,surveys,interviews,andmodelingto quantifytheworthandadvantagesofopenresearch activities.Openresearchinitiativeshavehada positiveimpactontechnologicaladvancementand economicgrowth,demonstratingsignificantvalue creationinindustriessuchaseducation,healthcare, andtransportation.Openscienceincreasesresearch processefficiency,preventsduplicationofeffort,and encouragesinnovation.

RESOURCES

Open Science Guide: This website provides a comprehensive overview of open science, including its principles, practices, and benefits.

UNESCO Open Science Recommendation: This document provides a framework for policymakers and stakeholders to implement open science practices.

cOAlition S: This international initiative is working to accelerate the transition to open access publishing.

Plan S: This European Union initiative requires all research funded by the European Commission to be published in open access journals or repositories.

Open Access Button: This browser extension allows anyone to request a free copy of a scientific paper that is published in a subscription-based journal.

Open Science Network: This website provides a platform for researchers to share their research data and software.

Public Library of Science (PLOS): This non-profit organization publishes a number of open access journals in a variety of fields, including biology, medicine, and computer science.

Open Science India: This website provides information about open science resources and initiatives in India.

National Knowledge Resource Consortium (NKRC): This Indian organization provides access to a number of open access journals and repositories.

Open Access Journals:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen /currentissue https://academic.oup.com/bjs https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jcm https://openmedicinejournal.com/ https://plos.org/ https://journals.sagepub.com/home/smo https://www.ijsr.net