17 June 2025
Earlier this year, the 17th Berlin Open Access Conference brought together delegations from around the world, and the OA2020 Initiative has published a comprehensive report capturing the collective wisdom and strategic direction that emerged from the conference discussions.
The B17 conference report offers pragmatic steps to address the current challenges facing the scholarly communication community and charts what can be accomplished collectively, based on the following needs expressed throughout the event:
- full transparency in publishing agreements
- fairer pricing frameworks
- support of diverse publishing models
- utilizing CC BY licensing to preserve author rights and enable academic agency over scholarly outputs—particularly crucial as AI reshapes research communication
- addressing the implications of current research assessment practices on the dynamics of the scholarly publishing ecosystem
- the integration of open science principles into institutional strategies
The consensus was clear: open access has passed the tipping point. The continued transformation of scholarly communication now depends on the library community’s collective ability to turn progress into practice.
The OA2020 Initiative will take these priorities forward, drawing on the strength of the global library community and partnerships to drive a more transparent, equitable, and effective open access ecosystem.