Significance of Open Access for Scientific Research

Source-This post on Significance of Open Access for Scientific Research has been created based on the article “Open access is crucial for self-reliance in science” published in “The Hindu” on 29 May 2024.

UPSC Syllabus-GS Paper-3– Achievements of Indians in Science & Technology; Indigenization of Technology and Developing New Technology.

Context– The article discusses the difficulties in research infrastructure and resource access in India. It suggests moving towards Open Access publishing and making India self-reliant in scientific publishing to ensure long-term access and cost-effectiveness.

India has made impressive growth in science, matching its booming economy. India is now the third-largest contributor to global research and ranks eleventh in research quality, as per the Nature Index.

Despite an increase in the number of universities from 760 to 1,113 between 2014 and 2021, many lack essential resources such as instrumental access, sophisticated labs, and access to scientific literature.

What initiatives have been undertaken to address shortfall in research infrastructure and resources in India?

1) I-STEM-This initiative aims to bridge the gap by cataloging all publicly funded research facilities across the nation, ensuring their availability to researchers based on need.

2) One Nation, One Subscription (ONOS)- This proposes a centralized subscription model to scientific journals, making them universally accessible to all publicly funded institutions in India. Currently, institutions in India spend an estimated ₹1,500 crore annually to access journals and databases, but the benefits are reaped by only a few top institutes.

What are the issues with the ONOS model?

1) High Subscription fees-

A) More articles are now accessible for free online through Open Access (OA). An analysis of Web of Science publications reveals that the global proportion of OA articles rose from 38% in 2018 to 50% in 2022. T

B) Major funding sources like the U.S. and European Union are pushing for OA, with the U.S. mandating immediate open accessibility of all publicly funded research articles by 2025.These raise questions about the need and effectiveness of paying for content that is becoming more freely available.

2) Dominance of Publishers– A small number of big publishers from the global north control the academic publishing market. They can impose tough conditions, which makes it hard to negotiate for ONOS.

3) Limited Impact of ONOS– ONOS doesn’t significantly improve global access to Indian research; instead, it mainly benefits Indian researchers by granting access to journals owned by major publishing companies.

4) Lack of Publisher Responsibility– Even if you pay for subscriptions, there’s no guarantee of continuous access because publishers haven’t committed to preserving the content they profit from in the long term. For instance, when a chemistry journal distributed worldwide by Elsevier stopped in December 2023, over 17,000 research papers vanished, except in Japan.

Read more- Recent Concerns with India’s Science Management in 2024

What should be the way forward?

1) Green Open Access – Green Open Access involves archiving articles authored by Indian researchers and funded by taxpayer money in publicly funded OA repositories. This practice ensures that research outputs are freely accessible to everyone globally, without relying on costly subscription models.

2) Self-Reliance in Scientific Publishing – India should strengthen its own journal system without burdening authors or readers with payments.

3) Global Leadership-By leveraging its capabilities in digital technology, India should lead the global south in creating and sharing low-cost, high-quality scientific publishing infrastructure.

Question for practice

What are the issues with the ONOS model? How can Green Open Access help in ensuring low-cost, high-quality scientific publishing infrastructure?