OSI 2017 Summary Report

Abstract

The Open Scholarship Initiative (OSI) is the worldâs only global, large-scale, multi-stakeholder effort to improve the flow of information within research and between researchers, policymakers, funders and the public. This effort, which is nearing its third full year of operation, was developed in partnership between the Science Communication Institute (SCI) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in early 2016. There is no other initiative like this, focusing on improving the entire landscape of research communication (from peer review to open access to publish or perish pressures in academia) by working together instead of separately through dozens of individual and often conflicting efforts.

 As you will see in this report, OSI participants are beginning to understand how they might be able to work together as a global community on this issue. Most participants see eye to eye on the broad outlines of this challenge, and their reportsâconsidered together and building upon each otherâpoint to specific solutions that can be developed starting this year with minimal funding. Fully pursuing all the recommendations will require much more funding, but our hope is that we can get started now on a tight budget and build from there.

On behalf of SCI and OSI, thank you to our sponsors who have made this work possible, and to OSI participants who have contributed so much of their time and energies to this important effort.