Futures Reframed Series
How can we publish differently, and what is already possible today? Researchers are increasingly asking questions about where, how, and under whose terms they publish. Diamond Open Access journals (free to read and publish & scholar-led) are emerging across more and more disciplines. At the same time, most researchers still operate within a system of impact factors, paywalls, and commercial publishers - a system that often sits uneasily with the values from which their work originates.
Academic publishing is changing, slowly but surely. More scholars are asking who actually benefits from the system they publish in, and whether there are better options. Diamond Open Access journals, free to read and free to publish, run by scholars themselves, are emerging across disciplines. This session brings together editors, researchers, librarians and policy people to take a closer look: what is Diamond OA really, how does it work in practice, and what would it take to make the shift?
This is a working session. We start from where participants actually are, including the doubts, the career pressures and the structural constraints. The goal is to leave with a clearer picture and at least one small experiment to try in your own practice.
We start by mapping the room: where does everyone stand, and what brings them here? From there, a few journals share what they're actually doing in plain terms, including what surprised them.
A sceptics' corner gives space to the harder questions around career, peer review and workload, and those doubts feed directly into the mini-labs that follow. In small groups, participants dig into real cases using their own experience as material.
We close with one concrete experiment per person to take home, and a first look at the international OA pledge campaign launching during Open Access Week in October.
Dr. Roanne van Voorst is a futures anthropologist and Assistant Professor, University of Amsterdam. She is Chair of the Futures Reframed Foundation, a scholar-led foundation that aims to explore alternative pathways for the future of science.
Dr. Tessa Cramer is professor of Designing the Future at Fontys University of Applied Sciences. Her research explores how awe, uncertainty and imagination may influence collective decision-making. She is co-founder and board member of Futures Reframed, where she works on reimagining scientific and institutional practices.