The Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information and the OA2020 Initiative have established a Joint Task Force on Negotiating Openness of Publication Metadata to promote transparency in scholarly publication metadata and strengthen open research infrastructure.
The effort builds on community discussions during recent OA2020 sessions, where participants underscored the need to address how critical research information—such as publication metadata, citation counts, and funding information—remains locked behind paywalls.
These closed systems hinder accountability, reproducibility, and institutional visibility. Co-chaired by Miranda Bennett of the California Digital Library (OA2020) and Ludo Waltman of Leiden University (Barcelona Declaration), the Task Force will develop strategies for negotiators to include openness requirements in publisher agreements. Its key activities include building a shared negotiation framework, drafting model clauses, creating practical tools and templates to support implementation, piloting and refining approaches in real-world settings, and raising community awareness.
The Task Force is embedded within the Barcelona Declaration Working Group on ‘Journal Article and Book Metadata’ and OA2020’s Working Group on ‘Transparency to Steward the OA Transition’. Its objective is to develop practical strategies for including openness of publication metadata in negotiations between research organizations and scholarly publishers.
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