Open access publishing is a core component of the movement toward open science. The shift to making scientific information freely accessible to the public has led to major strides in academia.

In addition to universal access to research publications, proponents of open science advocate for the entire research process to be as open and transparent as possible. This involves making scientific inputs, outputs and processes available to all, with minimal restrictions.

MDPI’s Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP) has become a trusted partner for institutions seeking support to publish open access, offering cost-effective and easy-to-implement solutions for publishing in fully CC-BY-compliant journals.

This article considers why open science is so important and how the IOAP supports authors in fulfilling institutional commitments.

What is open science?

The purpose of open science is to open up the process of producing and sharing scientific information.

Open access (OA) is part of open science, an umbrella term that refers to the academic movement for increased accessibility and transparency in scientific research and resulting publications. This includes open data, which can be freely used, reused, and redistributed by anyone, with proper attribution. Open peer review is also a component of open science, but it has not been widely adopted.

Institutions and governments are increasingly prioritizing open science for multiple reasons, including: enhancing research visibility and impact; encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration; and increasing access to scientific knowledge to the public.

The adoption of transformative agreements has institutions and publishers operating under changing business and funding models. Within this transition from subscription-access to an article processing charge (APC) model, fees are paid by the author, or by an affiliated institution or funding body.

The IOAP helps to alleviate continuing financial and administrative burdens by providing cost-effective pricing and easy-to-use workflows.

Open access and open science mandates

We have seen increases in institutional mandates and recommendations for open access. These policies have requirements set by governments, funding agencies, or universities for work to be published in an open access format.

A few examples of mandates and recommendations are provided below.

UNESCO

UNESCO’s Recommendation on Open Science (adopted in 2021) names scientific knowledge as a “global public good”. It outlines best practices for implementing the principles of fair and equitable knowledge production and dissemination.

Brazil

The Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), established in Brazil in 1997, is a pioneer of cooperative OA in the region. The gold open access model provides universal access to peer-reviewed publications. The recent Brazil Action Plan 2023–2027 advocates for increased compliance with open data and open science requirements.

Canada

Another example is The Roadmap for Open Science (2020), published by the Government of Canada. It provides overarching principles for open science activities that are federally funded for the well-being of the country.

The Roadmap encourages knowledge transfer and public dialogue in an effort to increase public confidence in science.

The United States

The United States has been making a new push for all federally funded research to be provided under an immediate zero-embargo green open access policy.

This allows for a reduced-cost alternative that helps authors who are not part of an institutional OA agreement. They are able to upload accepted manuscripts into certain OA repositories (self-archiving) with no embargo period.

Mandates in different areas continue to drive innovation and growth across academia. The continuing fulfillment of these mandates has led to the development of more open access journals, preprint servers, and open data initiatives.

How the IOAP supports open science

The IOAP supports open science by working with affiliated institutions and researchers to reduce barriers to publishing.

As part of the commitment to open science, the IOAP offers budget-conscious institutional support to aid in the transition to OA. The institutional dashboard provides transparency in publishing workflows, enabling authors to publish open access reduces barriers for participation of researchers who may otherwise struggle to publish.

Offering solutions to complex processes, the IOAP is actively helping authors and institutions fulfill the requirements for OA publishing.

The over 1,000+ institutions partnered with MDPI through the IOAP are empowering their affiliated researchers to further open science.

The benefits for member institutions and affiliated researchers include:

• Lowered financial barriers through institutional discounts and cost-effective payment options.
• Simplified workflows for complex administrative processes through MDPI’s proprietary online submission system, SuSy.
• A unique institutional dashboard, enabling institutions to keep track of and manage all submitted manuscripts from affiliated authors.
• The opportunity to support your faculty in meeting open access requirements.

The support and solutions offered by the IOAP increase transparency, accessibility, and inclusion in the publishing process. This promotes a more equitable and sustainable publishing model. The IOAP supports institutions by providing simplified workflows for complex administrative processes. It helps affiliated researchers to publish within a strict budget by reducing financial barriers.

A commitment to open science principles is demonstrated through the implementation of transformative agreements. The IOAP brings significant insight into a changing industry, helping affiliated institutions to successfully transition to an open publishing program.

Interested to know more? Learn more about MDPI’s Institutional Open Access Program here.

Or email our Institutional Partnerships team at ioap@mdpi.com.