Concerns about the extent to which contemporary scientific and scholarly publishing systems serve the needs of researchers and the public have been raised repeatedly in recent years. This report – which is aimed at the scientific community and its institutions – seeks to establish a shared view of the principles and priorities of the scholarly publishing system. It proposes a series of normative principles that should underlie the operation of scientific and scholarly publishing; describes the current publishing landscape and its trajectory of evolution; analyses the extent to which the principles are observed in practice; and identifies problematic issues that need to be addressed in realizing those principles.
This report is the first output of the ISC’s ongoing project on The Future of Scientific Publishing. It was prepared as a discussion document in consultation with an international working group, and has benefited from expert external review, and from extensive consultations with representatives from the ISC membership. The report will be used to set the agenda for a subsequent phase of discussion and action involving ISC Members and other stakeholders.
Summary
The Summary of Opening the record of science: making scholarly publishing work for science in the digital era is available for download in the following languages: