Our Societies, Journals, and the Narrative of Accessibility and Equity in Open Research - The Scholarly Kitchen

"The South has many Society and institutional journals which are free to read and publish in. These are often supported by their host institutions or national governments, as they bear relatively small publishing costs and voluntary engagement from the editorial and publication teams. These are, however, widely branded as being of poor quality even though many maintain strong editorial standards. We rarely call them Diamond or Platinum OA. But the situation is changing, and more attention is being given to such journals. Discussions on equity will remain incomplete unless we bring the Southern journals to the table....

To bridge the current gap between the North and the South, we need to change our current narratives of equity in Open Research. It should no longer be that the North is drawing or calling the South to join its effort to build an equitable scholarly publishing world. We both need to meet in the middle....

To improve accessibility and equity in Open Research, we need to transform our outlook and efforts. Installing new technologies, making infrastructural changes, and adopting new policies and practices are vital to increase the value and impact of our Society journals and to ensure our organizational sustainability. These are equally important to advance towards an equitable knowledge ecosystem. To create such an enabling environment, Societies in the North need to look beyond their current networks. We need to learn from and capitalize on a diverse pool of regional and international perspectives and expertise. Such a change in our approach can help us to shape a future, which is sustainable, equitable, and resilient to recessions, pandemics, and climate crisis."