In a new HEPI Policy Note, Why open access is not enough: Spreading the benefits of research (HEPI Policy Note 42), Victoria Gardner, Director of Policy at Taylor & Francis, and Dr Laura Brassington, Policy Manager at HEPI, ask how to make academic research accessible to different audiences.
Open access (OA), under which research is freely available without paywalls, is one of the main discussion points of the twenty-first century research environment. The benefits of OA are clear, from making research outcomes more impactful in terms of increased citations to enabling their wider availability within and outside academia. However, open access alone does not resolve the challenges policymakers, higher education institutions, academics and others face in making the best use of research.
In this Policy Note, Gardner and Brassington ask what challenges would remain, in a fully open access world, to enabling non-academic audiences to engage with research. They identify a number of challenges including: growth in research and research platforms; inaccessible language; lack of incentives within academia; differing timelines between government and academia; a missing link between research and industry; and public perceptions of research.
They also identify potential solutions for key stakeholders, such as: tailored communication training and development for researchers; embedding researchers within decision-making bodies; more industry placements for academics; and publisher-created spaces to facilitate engagement between academia, industry and the public.
Click here to read the original press release.
