Obstacles to Open Access Publishing for Researchers with Weak Institutional Ties - Epistemic Injustice in Academic Publishing

There are a number of initiatives aimed at addressing the issue of accessibility to research literature, particularly targeting researchers from disadvantaged socio-economic settings. However, fewer mechanisms exist to support these researchers in publishing their contributions, effectively positioning them as consumers rather than creators of knowledge. This lack of diversity in scholarly publishing serves as a clear manifestation of epistemic injustice.

In October 2024, the TIB - Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology launched the IDAHO project, a groundbreaking effort to identify and describe barriers to open access publishing faced by researchers with weak institutional ties. In the frame of the IDAHO project, the term “weakly affiliated” encompasses a diverse group of researchers that may not have strong ties to academia but still engages in research and produces publications.

The project adopts a comprehensive, multi-part exploratory methodology, combining both qualitative and quantitative methods to gain deeper insights into the research problem and focuses specifically on: independent researchers, citizens science, retired researchers, refugee scientists, researchers working for civil societies, industry enterprises, hospitals, non-profit and governmental organizations.

In our presentation, we will share synthesized findings from ten qualitative interviews with targeted researchers, complemented by a global quantitative survey, uncovering the unique challenges researchers with weak institutional ties face in disseminating their research OA. We will also present the findings from 13 qualitative interviews with academic publishers and journal editors, highlighting their awareness of identified obstacles, as well as the initiatives and strategies they employ to promote equality, inclusion, and the diversification of authors within their venues.

Finally, as the ultimate goal of the IDAHO project is to design evidence-based recommendations to eliminate or mitigate identified obstacles, audience participation and feedback will be encouraged to inform the development of these recommendations.