(Japan) (open-access mandate) (research) (opportunities)

Open Discussion
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Summary

Japan has mandated that all nationally funded research be published in open-access journals by 2025 to enhance the visibility and impact of its research. This initiative aligns with global trends in open science. Despite this, many researchers and university officials are unaware or unclear about the policy. To address financial concerns related to article processing charges (APCs), the government has established a fund and institutions have formed agreements with publishers. Japan is also investing in institutional repositories and considering a national platform for open-access publishing.

Business opportunities

  1. Development of awareness and training programs for researchers and university officials about open-access policies and practices.
  2. Creation of affordable open-access platforms and services to mitigate the high costs of APCs for researchers.
  3. Establishment of consultancy services to help institutions navigate transformative agreements and manage APC funds.
  4. Investment in the development and maintenance of institutional repositories and national open-access platforms.
  5. Launch of domestic academic journals and platforms to reduce dependency on international publishers.

https://www.perplexity.ai/page/Japans-Push-for-3.2OD__4QhiQYSGXidYp0Q

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I really wonder why more countries don’t do this, it seems like a no-brainer. If tax money is being used to create something why shouldn’t the people paying for it be able to at least read it without having to pay for it again!?!?

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Because, in the neoliberal era, institutions are underfunded in general and rely on their profit centres which means, notwithstanding the fact that specific research may be publicly funded, the revenue generation model has successfully been ingrained into the academic mindset and the monetisation of research as a revenue generator is second only to student ursury, err, I mean, fees.

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If only we could have a much more productive and abundant economy so scientific research wasn’t underfunded or perhaps didn’t actually need much money, if we ditch the expensive humans that are involved…

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