It is important to ensure that the COST Actions’ scientific and technology related results, outcomes, and impacts are shared widely with the Research and Innovation community. To further support this, COST Actions were recently invited to start submitting their networks’ research to Open Research Europe (ORE), the European Commission’s Open Access publishing platform for research.
The latest COST Action research on ORE
COST Action experience
We chatted to Pia Kahnay and Lars Lewejohann from COST Action TEATIME, Marie Ruiz from COST Action WEMov, Olga Gouni from COST Action DEVoTION, and Jacques J.D.M. van Lankveld from COST Action ESMN to hear more about their experience with ORE and views on Open Access publishing:
Why is it important to publish Open Access?
Open Access is a publishing model for scholarly communication that makes research information available to readers at no cost. Many scientific fields and COST Action are embracing Open Access as part of a wider commitment to Open Science.
“As the world becomes more transparent and open, access to information exchange and networked intelligence on a global scale necessitates a complete rethinking of how scientific research is conducted and how scientific evidence is disseminated. If Innovative research findings and concepts are accessible without a paid subscription, anyone who takes the effort can thereby develop better understanding firsthand. Particularly important today, when interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity are the norm and everything is interconnected regardless of the topic of study.” explains Olga Gouni.
“Publishing the work of ESMN Open Access is essential to optimally reach our target group, which is partly located outside the academic world, and does not have free access to other publications.”
Jacques J.D.M. van Lankveld, ESMN
“The publication of TEATIME’s work in Open Access is particularly important as this COST Action is concerned with the description, use and development of methods to enable and improve the observation and testing of laboratory animals in home cages. This topic could be of great relevance to many scientists outside TEATIME as well. By making the scientific results openly accessible, it will be possible for everyone to benefit from the results, regardless of whether they are part of TEATIME, where in the world they work, or how much money they have to access publications. However, it is not only important for TEATIME to publish their work openly but Open Access publishing should be the standard. Most research worldwide is publicly funded and should therefore be accessible to the public, giving everyone access to new knowledge, regardless of their budget.” add Pia Kahnay and Lars Lewejohann.
The advantages of ORE
Open Research Europe is an original publishing venue, like a journal, not a repository. It provides a reliable peer-reviewed publishing service of high scientific quality, with swift publication times. ORE accepts articles in all fields of science and publication of a wide range of outputs is supported making it an ideal portal for the diversity of COST Actions.
When looking at the process Pia Kahnay highlights “the first version of our manuscript was accepted as a preprint and published online as Open Access within a few weeks.” She adds, “another advantage is that publication is free for members of a COST Action. This means that funds that would otherwise be spent on publication can be used for other purposes. This might be especially relevant for researchers from Inclusive Target Countries who may struggle even more with the financial resources to publish.“
“Open Access is clearly the future of research publication, yet still too expensive to be accessible to most researchers. Funded by the European Commission, ORE is a perfect solution and an equitable opportunity based on merit and talent that allows all Horizon Europe grantees access to Open Access. It has already boosted our COST Action’s publication projects”
Dr Marie Ruiz, WEMov
Open peer review
Open Research Europe uses a fully open and transparent post-publication peer review process whereby the names and affiliations of reviewers are published alongside their reports. Their model is centered around transparency and innovation, allowing peer review to become a constructive and collaborative conversation within the research community. Peer review takes place after the article has been published openly on the platform, so research can be read and cited while being assessed by expert reviewers.
“The fully transparent review system is an excellent fit with our views on scientific quality and integrity. We see open peer review as part of the development towards Open Science, because it makes the scientific process more transparent, and because it gives more recognition to the contribution of reviewers.“
Jacques J.D.M. van Lankveld, ESMN
“For our manuscript, we are still waiting for the reviewers’ comments, so we cannot report on the actual process yet. However, we believe that an open peer review process will have a positive impact on the quality of the manuscript. By publishing not only the names of the reviewers, but also the communication between reviewers and authors, along with the manuscript and the different versions that may result, the development process will be traceable for all. This could also help others to learn from possible mistakes, such as inaccurate descriptions in the text or errors in the statistical analysis. Such an open process makes you vulnerable. However, this should not prevent anyone from participating and should be seen as an opportunity to help improve scientific communication.” explain Pia Kahnay and Lars Lewejohann.