The role of learned societies and grant-funding agencies in fostering a culture of open science

Abstract

At first sight, it is a no-brainer to make publicly funded research findings freely available to everyone. Ever increasing pay walls are unsustainable and publishers have been pushing their luck in the last decades. On the other hand, free lunches do not exist either. It is unrealistic for researchers to expect that their manuscripts can be evaluated and published for eternity without someone paying something. Based on my experiences, I think that commercial companies competing against each other are still the best guarantee for good service and innovation (e.g., for manuscript submission and handling). However, these companies must be reined in by people who put the ideals of scientific progress and accessibility first. Otherwise, temptations for easy profit are too large. There is no good alternative to learned societies governed by the researchers themselves. Complementary to the role of learned societies, grant funding agencies have the unique power to nudge researchers toward open science practices and to make sure that the findings of the research they support are copied to secure systems immune to the siren call of profit making.