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Open Access is a popular topic in the world of academia and research. Open Access is a movement that seeks to make academic and scientific research available to everyone, free of charge. Due to the movement gaining momentum in recent years, there has been an observed increase in open access library databases. 

While open access benefits users and readers, let’s take a dive into how this revolutionary publishing route can also benefit researchers and authors.

Benefits of Open Access Publishing

• Increased collaboration among researchers

This provides researchers globally with access to the latest information. Which further aids in collaboration on projects without having to pay expensive subscription fees or purchase textbooks. When paywalls and other restrictions are absent, this also allows for interdisciplinary research to grow and disseminate, helping researchers broaden their network and explore emerging and established disciplines alike. 

Interdisciplinary study allows for ideas and characteristics from many disciplines to be synthesised. Simultaneously, it addresses a researcher’s individual differences and helps to develop important, transferable skills.

• Removes barriers to promote inclusivity

Open Access is also helping bridge the gap of inequality in access to research, allowing everyone equal access to scientific literature. This highlights the sustainable development goals (SDG’s) publishers compact, wherein UN signatories work towards the 10 commitments to publish knowledge and research in a way which benefits their focused SDG. 

Inclusivity in academic research is essential for the advancement of knowledge and lifelong learning. It ensures that all voices are heard and respected, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or any other factor. By including diverse perspectives in research, we can gain a better understanding of the world around us and create more meaningful solutions to global problems.

Inclusivity in academia also aids in ensuring research is conducted ethically and with respect for all participants. It encourages researchers to consider the impact of their work on different communities and take into account any potential biases they may have when conducting their studies.

• Increased Citations and Overall Usage

A recent study has depicted that research published in open access journals and databases gains 18% more citations than restricted research. This promotes the dissemination of an author’s work at a faster pace. An increase in citations and downloads drives more traffic to academic research, indicating an improved impact factor for the research. 

Citations and downloads are important measures of the impact of a research paper. When research is cited by other researchers, it depicts that it is relevant to the research community. Similarly, when research papers are downloaded more frequently, it indicates that this specific research is attracting the attention of the readers. This recognition and visibility can help researchers further establish themselves as experts in their respective field. 

Furthermore, when research papers are widely cited and downloaded, it increases the chances of securing funding for future research. Funding institutions, bodies and organizations often observe citations and download statistics to evaluate the impact of academic research. 

• Compliance with Open Access Mandate

An open-access mandate is a policy implemented by a research institution which requires the researcher to make their published, peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers open access by self-archiving their final, peer-reviewed drafts in a freely accessible institutional or disciplinary repository. An alternative route would be by publishing them in an open-access journal. 

Adhering to open access mandates can help researchers to further comply with funders or institutional requirements for reporting and sharing research outputs. Many funding agencies and institutions require researchers to report on the outputs of their work, including publications, data, and software. This ensures that academic research published in open access contributes to a wide research community.

Furthermore, compliance with open access mandates can increase the visibility and impact of research. As discussed, a wider reach equates to a higher number of citations and downloads of academic research. 

In conclusion, open access publishing is revolutionising the academic publishing spectrum. With a wider reach and an increase in the adoption of open access publishing; it can be deduced that both reader and researcher benefit from open access publishing. Researchers are increasingly opting to publish their work via open access pathways due to increased visibility, reaching a wider audience which translates to a higher number of citations.

Discover millions of e-books, journal articles, proceedings and more on Zendy Open. Access unlimited research across an array of disciplines and languages while enjoying a smooth research process with comprehensive filters now on Zendy.

As we reach the end of 2022, we’re celebrating a unique and incredibly exciting year for Zendy. As I type this, we now welcome over 40,000 users to the Zendy platform. A milestone that I am certainly proud of but not surprised by. 

I’m not surprised by the positive response to Zendy because as an industry, we have a long way to go to ensure that everyone, everywhere, has equal affordability and accessibility to knowledge. But we are certainly taking steps in the right direction. There’s never been a time when we need more evidence-based research. 

When I Co-founded Zendy in 2019, Zendy’s ‘hybrid’ subscription-based access model was a new concept for publishers to visualize. Despite this, our passionate and inspired mission to democratise access to scholarly literature was felt and we gained the support of some of the world’s leading publishers. If there’s something I’ve learned in my many decades in the industry, it’s that collaboration is the fundamental ingredient to foster change in the academic publishing spectrum successfully. 

A big thanks to our publishing partners who continue to support our mission and work with us to promote lifelong learning opportunities for individuals in over 130 countries.

As I reflect on collaboration, I think of the endless hours of work put in by the Zendy team. Those who were with us from the beginning, and our many recent joiners – everyone has pioneered together along the way. When you are creating something from scratch, the challenges keep coming. The resilience and commitment of our team is second to none, and I couldn’t be prouder of all the milestones we have reached together. 

It was great to see the team’s talents recently recognized at the Middle East Technology Excellence Awards where Zendy received Best Startup in the Education Technology category. 

We had a long list of goals in 2022. A key objective was to participate in as many conversations as possible. It’s a pivotal moment in academic publishing, digitisation is in full effect, and end-user consumption trends continue to spotlight the need for publishers and service providers to diversify content and focus on accessibility and affordability. 

Earlier this year, I joined ChronosHub on a webinar to discuss Affordable Access & Open Access Publishing. The webinar showcased the progress that has been made on the OA front to encourage greater diversity and representation in academic publishing. However, it’s still evident that researchers on the ground, especially in emerging regions, still face hurdles in basic access to journals. 

Watch the full webinar here: https://bit.ly/3PA8GM3

As we see news globally of pirated academic content platforms terminating, it’s critical that, as an industry we focus on how we can continue to deliver value to students, researchers, professionals, and self-learners around the world. By right, everyone should have equal access to scientific literature. Ultimately the goal of research is to enhance society, and the only way to do that is to disseminate research as far and wide as possible. 

The message of dissemination fits well alongside the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. As joint signatories of the SGD Publishers Compact, it was excellent to join industry players at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair. We had positive meetings with existing publishers and successful meetings with new publishers on the Open Access and paid content front.

We look forward to sharing news of new partnerships in early 2023.  

Shortly after Frankfurt Book Fair, we hosted a collaborative webinar with OAPEN at the beginning of Open Access week to discuss the importance of OA participation and to explore the link between OA content and climate action. The webinar featured two Open Access authors who detailed their publishing experience as authors – a great watch for aspiring authors. 

Watch the full webinar here: https://bit.ly/3V6Hx4f

Q4 has been incredibly busy for us, and we are looking forward to announcing new feature releases that will significantly uplift users’ experience on the platform. Our technology is what sets us apart, and this year we made considerable improvements to enhance the accuracy and value of our data for users based on data association and topic modeling algorithms.

Another recent milestone is that we launched Zendy in Nigeria, allowing users to search both Open Access content and subscribe to top journals on one seamless platform. We’ve already welcomed over 8,000 users in Nigeria, and we look forward to creating more access opportunities in the region. 

As we bring 2022 to a close, we thank all of you who support us in big and small ways. Looking forward to more conversations and collaboration in 2023. 

Best wishes for a happy new year from the entire Zendy team!

Kamran Robert Kardan

In this collaborative webinar, Zendy and OAPEN teamed up at the start of Open Access week to discuss and debate the discoverability of open climate research in MENA. 

The panel featured Knowledge E CEO & Zendy Co-founder Kamran Kardan, Zendy Partnership Relations Manager Sara Crowley Vigneau, Community Manager at DOAB & OAPEN Tom Mosterd, and authors Declan Conway and Marvin Brown.  Open Access is vital in giving communities worldwide an opportunity to produce and disseminate knowledge about the climate crisis we are facing. Openness can create pathways to more equitable knowledge sharing and serve as a means to address the inequities that shape the impacts of climate change and our response to them.

Global accessibility to scientific content

Zendy Co-founder Kamran Kardan commenced panel discussions by describing the key challenge for individuals who want to access top scientific literature. In today’s publishing environment, individuals either need to be a member of an institution that has a subscription to these resources from the various publishers or part of an organization that may be part of a large consortium that may include access to certain databases. 

This landscape has created significant inequality in access models for scientific information. Zendy’s mission to democratize access to scientific literature aims to make academic literature more affordable and accessible for individuals to learn and discover.

The pay-per-article model is not sustainable for independent learners. With single research papers ranging from $10 to $40 per download, vast global inequities have emerged in knowledge economies. Zendy’s hybrid subscription model, which provides individuals unlimited access for the monthly price of a single research paper, aims to help bridge the gap between access and affordability. 

As Kamran discussed, challenges also exist in the Open Access framework. In a completely Open Access world, pockets of OA content exist across various platforms. This can make the research journey for individuals arduous. Zendy Open is a solution to accumulate this content for the user and present it on one easy-to-navigate platform. 

In reference to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Kamran expressed that the key requirement for progress in climate action is through the power of knowledge. 

See the entire discussion here: https://youtu.be/bVd28nSNhwA?t=196

Importance of useability and collaboration

Zendy Open is designed to make the accessibility of Open Access content easy for individuals from all walks of life. As Zendy Partnership Relations Manager, Partnership Relations Manager Sara Crowley Vigneau discussed, together with usability, partnerships play a central role in providing inclusive access.

Zendy aims to partner with a diverse group of top publishers to ensure individuals have wide-ranging access to over 45 million Open Access publications, available in over 68 languages. Sara discussed the correlation between the impact of the Open Access movement and SDG 4: equal access to education. The principles of Open Access also empower SDG goal 10 (fighting inequalities worldwide) and SDG goal 13 (climate action). 

Climate research touches all aspects of our lives, from education to health, our notion of home to the societies we participate, and, importantly, our children’s future. The more industry participants collaborate to provide more visibility and ease of access to climate research, the better-informed individuals, thus creating more opportunities for participation in climate action. 

Zendy’s collaboration with OAPEN means thousands of e-books, including hundreds of Open Access titles, are now available free on Zendy. 

See the entire discussion here: https://youtu.be/bVd28nSNhwA?t=196

The role of books in the transition to Open Access

OAPEN promotes and supports the transition to open access for academic books by providing open infrastructure services to stakeholders in scholarly communication.

The OAPEN Foundation offers 3 services: the OAPEN Library, which hosts, distributes, and preserves over 25,000 peer-reviewed OA books, a global indexing service called DOAB, and an OA Books toolkit to help authors learn how to publish via OA channels. 

As OAPEN & DOAB Community Manager Tom Mosterd discussed, books play an important role in the Open Access arena, especially in the subjects of humanities, social sciences, and, of course, climate justice.  The OAPEN library features books from large publishers, as well as independent publishers from University Press’ from all around the world. The webinar showcased two authors who have for many years participated in the Open Access publishing process. They both provided insights about their books, which are now available on Zendy, and they shared their journey of why they publish Open Access.

Declan Conway: Climate Risk in Africa – Adaptation and Resilience

This OA book highlights the complexities around making adaptation decisions and building resilience in the face of climate risk. It is based on experiences in sub-Saharan Africa through the Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) applied research programme.

The insights inform new ways to promote action in policy and praxis by blending knowledge from multiple disciplines, including climate science, that provides an understanding of future climate risk and the social science of response through adaptation.

Read the book on Zendy now: https://bit.ly/3DqcIAZ

Marvin Brown: A Climate of Justice: An Ethical Foundation for Environmentalism

This OA book helps readers combine history, politics, and ethics to address the most pressing problem facing the world today: environmental survival. In A Climate of Justice, Marvin Brown connects the environmental crisis to basic questions of economic, social, and racial justice. 

Brown shows how our current social climate maintains systemic injustices, and he uncovers resources for change through civic ethics of repair and reciprocity. A must-read for researchers and educators in the area of environmental ethics and those teaching courses in the fields of public policy and environmental sustainability.

Read the book on Zendy now: https://bit.ly/3h72DkE