Open access to scholarship

The evolution of scientific understanding and stretching for innovation is one of the outcomes that higher education strives to achieve throughout the world. And, one of the primary ways that research and knowledge advances is through open access to outcomes.

After the Biden administration committed U.S.A. higher education to open access in publishing the findings of federally-funded research, other regions and countries are repositioning to remain part of the international scholarly discourse. It is unclear who will be involved and on what timeline but Asia is likely to follow the U.S.A. lead.

One of the factors that impacts open access is the fees charged by journals for open access publishing. Smaller countries may struggle to find the resources to fund these publications. However, in order to make sure that their scholars are part of the international conversations, even smaller countries will need to find a way.