How truly open access publishing models improve project outcomes for postgraduate research students

One of the hardest things about starting a research project is the literature review that forms the basis of the entire programme. This allows the student and their academic supervisor to understand existing literature and ensure essential criteria for passing the qualification is met – novelty. However, with huge swathes of research locked behind paywalls, this is often difficult to do. Here, Philipp Koellinger the co-founder of open access publishing start-up DeSci Labs, explains why, if we are to solve the world’s scientific challenges, the future of scientific publishing must truly be open access and not concentrated into the hands of a select few publishers.

The journey into postgraduate research is often heralded as an exciting adventure into the unknown. But for many aspiring scientists, the reality can be far less exhilarating as their adventures hit an immediate obstacle: the literature review.

Challenges Accessing Literature

With Google Scholar at our fingertips, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of available research online. However, simply combing through the search results to find journal articles that are relevant to your chosen research area is only half the battle. A significant portion of the existing literature is locked behind paywalls, creating a frustrating obstacle for students trying to grasp the nuances of their chosen field.

Furthermore, the vast majority of published articles do not provide access to the code and data on which their claims are based, and publishers lack the technology to evaluate and publish anything other than manuscripts. Building on this fragmented, incomplete, and partly paywalled content is like trying to build a house with only half the blueprints.

This is far more than just an inconvenience. It’s a systemic issue that hinders scientific progress. By restricting access to published scientific research based on paid subscriptions, we create an uneven playing field that favours academic institutions, or individual researchers, with the resources to afford expensive journal subscriptions.

And by publishing only the final manuscript, with the accompanying data and code being inaccessible or lost, we have to rely on the author’s statements without the ability to check for ourselves. The lack of data and code in the scientific record also means that many researchers inadvertently end up reinventing the wheel over and over again, making unnecessary mistakes along the way.

Also, it leads to many false research findings being published because referees lack the incentives and the means to check how the authors arrived at their results. These flaws

not only limit the potential pool of future scientists but also slow down the pace of scientific discovery. Ultimately, the collective flaws in the publishing landscape harm scientists’ ability to solve the world’s key scientific challenges, from drugs to treat diseases like cancer to green technology to tackle climate change.

Bring Down the Walls

At its finest, science is a collaborative effort. After all, you don’t improve research outcomes by hiding scientific data or code. Sharing knowledge freely is essential for accelerating innovation as, by making experimental methods and their results more accessible, it allows for greater scrutiny, replication, and an enhanced capacity to building on existing work. It also fosters a culture of transparency and accountability, which are fundamental to the ongoing integrity of science.

An open access publishing landscape also makes it easier to address global challenges. From climate change to disease outbreaks, the world needs science to provide solutions to the biggest scientific challenges of the day.

By making all components of research freely available, including the data and code that underpin published findings, we empower scientists everywhere to contribute to finding answers. We break down geographical and economic barriers, ensuring that the best minds can work together to tackle humanity’s most pressing problems.

Furthermore, when the world faces major scientific challenges that impact the public in a profound way, being able to freely access scientific research can limit the spread of misinformation and dramatically speed up scientific discovery. For example, during COVID19, many scientists shared their research results on the virus immediately on preprint servers such as BioRxiv, instead of waiting months or years before a publishing in a scientific journal and having their findings locked behind publisher’s paywalls.

The appearance of COVID19 papers on BioRxiv reflected the global spread of the disease: The first results were posted by Chinese scientists, followed by Italians, and so forth. The immediate sharing of results was instrumental for the fast development of vaccines, treatments, and disease management.