Abstract
AccessLabs are workshops with two simultaneous motivations, achieved through direct citizen-scientist pairings: (1) to decentralise research skills so that a broader range of people are able to access/use scientific research, and (2) to expose science researchers to the difficulties of using their research as an outsider, creating new open access advocates. Five trial AccessLabs have taken place for policy makers, media/journalists, marine sector participants, community groups, and artists. The act of pairing science academics with local community members helps build understanding and trust between groups at a time when this relationship appears to be under increasing threat from different political and economic currents in society. Here, we outline the workshop motivations, format, and evaluation, with the aim that others can build on the methods developed.
Highlights
There are roughly 33,100 peer-reviewed academic English-language research journals, responsible for publishing about 3 million articles a year, with the number of articles rising consistently by about 3% each year [1]
Only about 28% of research literature is open access, while the rest is locked behind paywalls and as such is unaffordable to many people
Virtual private network (VPN) check (5 minutes)—We provide participants with two links to academic papers that are behind paywalls and ask them to use their own laptops to see if they can access the papers
Summary
There are roughly 33,100 peer-reviewed academic English-language research journals, responsible for publishing about 3 million articles a year, with the number of articles rising consistently by about 3% each year [1]. Estimates from CrossRef, Google Scholar, and the Web of Science indicate that in total, roughly 70 million articles have been published to date in academic journals [1]. This is clearly a vast and growing resource of humanity’s knowledge. Only about 28% of research literature is open access (meaning an article is free to access and read in full online), while the rest is locked behind paywalls and as such is unaffordable to many people. The proportion of freely available research papers is growing, even in the most recent year analysed (2015), only about 45% of new articles were found to be open access [2].
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