Open Access Week 2023: Theme is "Community over Commercialization"

Open Access Week is commemorated annually in October. This year's theme is "Community over Commercialization." From the OA Week 2023 theme page: "When commercial interests are prioritized over those of the communities that research seeks to serve, many concerning issues arise. Open Access Week provides an opportunity for individuals to discuss questions that are most relevant in their local context. These might include: What is lost when a shrinking number of corporations control knowledge production rather than researchers themselves? What is the cost of business models that entrench extreme levels of profit? When does the collection and use of personal data begin to undermine academic freedom? Can commercialization ever work in support of the public interest? What options for using community-controlled infrastructure already exist that might better serve the interests of the research community and the public (such as preprint servers, repositories, and open publishing platforms)? How can we shift the default toward using these community-minded options?" (emphasis added)

Launched last month, the Forced Migration Research Archive (FMRA) embodies this theme: 1) It's a resource that enables forced migration authors to share the results of their research more broadly without having to pay expensive publication fees to do so; and 2) as the content within the repository grows over time, it serves the needs of the overall forced migration research community by providing free access to a wide variety of research materials. 

However, the second objective can't be accomplished without the first! So in recognition of Open Access Week, over the next several days, I will be providing tips and resources to encourage authors to submit postprints of their relevant peer-reviewed journal articles in English, French and Spanish to FMRA. Please stay tuned!