Open Science and open access: Nuances and contrasts in the case of Latin America

• In Event: Open Science: How to Unlock Equitable Access to Research

Proposal

In several international academic forums, the rapid progress of the Open Access movement in Latin America is noteworthy. This is because our region never moved to Open Access per say, but rather, Open Access has always been the natural way in which we have disseminated our research results. We could say, therefore, that Open Access was born in Latin America, not as a concept, but as a practice.

The reason for this relates back to the structure of academia and publication in our region. South American nations typically have a system of free or very low cost education where scientific activities have traditionally been subsidized with public funds. In this system, the publication of research results is fully subsidized with public funds and done by the universities themselves. However, there are strong problems with distribution of these publications. Warehouses full of paper publications are ineffective in Latin America not only because they waste economic resources, but more importantly because they are an enormous store of knowledge that is not taken advantage of by potentially interested users. In this context, the only way in which the distribution problems of universities, higher education institutions, and research centers could be tackled was by making publications freely available to the interested public via electronic media.

Although Latin America is well versed in the concept of Open Access, the Open Science movement as a whole has not enjoyed the same level of development in the area. The three countries that have legislated on open access to scientific information (Peru, Argentina, and Mexico) are beginning to develop regulations regarding the opening of data or the development of institutional repositories (which are linked with the so-called Green Open Access route). However, that is not to say that countries which have not legislated about Open Access may not have progressed even a little farther down the road to Open Science, as is the case in Brazil.

The Mexican experience is worth analyzing in this respect. In May 2014 the approval of the Open Access Law meant that from that point forward, Mexican scientists have been bound by a law that commits them to the process sharing knowledge, publications, and data through Open Access. The law challenges them to honor this commitment, effectively ensure that their institutions develop the necessary mechanisms to make Open Access happen, and guarantee that as a community they can generate a culture of openness to the provision of scientific information. In reality these things do not always happen.

The Open Access Law in Mexico is long and has experienced many edits and revisions that attempt to get across what is more or less redundant information. I would like to point out that the final approved law has two main aspects: one that relates to Open Access (widely discussed, analyzed and known) and another that relates to Access to Scientific Information (little known and less analyzed).

This second aspect of the law is operated by the National Consortium of Scientific and Technological Information Resources (CONRICyT). It is coordinated by CONACyT, which runs a platform that provides access to information acquired through subscriptions that are managed jointly by members of participating institutions. This is necessary because it is one thing is to legislate around scientific production generated with public funds in Mexico, but it is another entirely to guarantee access to scientific information that is developed in other countries of the world that do not necessarily operate through Open Access. Moreover, it is quite challenging to guarantee Open Access in such a way that public resources are invested and used effectively.

The challenges of Open Access are many and those which are pointed out here are only the beginning. Throughout South America there is still a lack of institutional mandates, repositories, and growth of said repositories under congruent licenses of Open Access. An intense campaign is needed to create awareness among academics about the modalities of Open Access and to solidify the basis for the transition towards an effective Open Science culture. Where we are now is a start, but there is still a long way to go on the road toward Open Access and Open Science.

Author

• Rosario Rogel, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México