A look back at Open Access Week 2023
The International Open Access Week took place from October 23 to 27, an initiative in which the Library has participated since 2017, each time setting up a program of online and on-campus events for the UNIGE community. With Community over Commercialization as its theme, the event led to constructive exchanges around non-commercial models of scientific publication and knowledge dissemination.
One of the events was the Affordable Open Access: exploring funding and free publishing options conference, opened by Prof. Martine Collart, Vice-Dean at the Faculty of Medicine, and at which the diamond road was highlighted. This publishing model enables academics to regain control over their output, while guaranteeing equitable access to it. Speakers included Dr. Daniela Hahn, head of the Platinum Open Access Funding (PLATO) project, who presented an overview of diamond journals in Switzerland, and Drs. Romain Vaucher and Camille Thomas, from UNIGE's Department of Earth Sciences, for their feedback on the creation of the journal Sedimentologika.
Seven short 15-minute webinars, most of them in English, were offered as part of the Library's Rendez-vous de l'info scientifique program. They were attended by 76 participants from the UNIGE and other Swiss and European institutions.
At Sciences II, posters on Open Access and Archive ouverte UNIGE were on display all week next to auditorium A 300. The lunchtime stand on Thursday was an opportunity to exchange ideas with students and researchers, while answering very concrete questions: Where to publish in Open Access? How can I find quality journals in my field? How to finance publication costs? How can I find out if my previous publications are Open Access? What should I do to make them available in Open Access? These discussions helped to clarify concepts, introduce useful tools and resources, debate the foundations and progress of the Open Access movement, while highlighting the support and services offered by the UNIGE.
Every year, the Open Access Week is more and more popular with the university community. We would like to thank all those who took part and invite you to send us your suggestions or ideas for the 2024 edition.
You can consult the website www.unige.ch/oa for useful information and resources, including the list of agreements between UNIGE and publishers, eligibility criteria for the Publication Fund and a description of the Open Access Publications service for hosting open access online journals.
Anouk Santos, Library Open Access Specialist for the Faculty of Science