# Replacing academic journals

**URL:** <https://forum.edch.eu/t/replacing-academic-journals/1112>\
**Category:** Event\
**Tags:** tension, infrastructure, crisis\
**Created:** [17 September 2026 12:32 UTC](https://forum.edch.eu/t/replacing-academic-journals/1112 "2026-09-17T12:32:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mpaulhac](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forum.edch.eu/mpaulhac/32/48_2.png) [@mpaulhac](https://forum.edch.eu/u/mpaulhac)\
**Post date:** [17 September 2026 12:32 UTC](https://forum.edch.eu/t/replacing-academic-journals/1112/1 "2026-09-17T12:32:12Z")

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_As in previous years, a number of Swiss universities and libraries have joined forces to put together a wide-ranging programme of online, hybrid and local events in different formats for the OA-Week in Switzerland this year._

“The cost of knowledge” – this year’s Open Access Week motto asks why publishing publicly funded research still costs so much, and who benefits.

Björn Brembs will argue that today’s journal system is structurally broken: a handful of publishers extract far more from public budgets than the service justifies, starving the infrastructure that reliable, reproducible research actually needs. Thus, the research system faces not only a replicability crisis but also an affordability crisis and a functionality crisis.  
Drawing on his paper “[Replacing academic journals](https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/10/7/230206/92011/Replacing-academic-journalsReplacing-academic)” he will sketch what a leaner, community-owned alternative could look like.

Björn Brembs is Professor of Neurogenetics at the University of Regensburg, Germany, and an advocate for reforming scholarly publishing for many years.

**Date:** Wednesday, 21 Oct 2026  
**Time:** 15:30 - 16:30  
**Venue:** Eawag, Forum Chriesbach, FC-D 24 _or online via [Teams](https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/326187906525012?p=odpaMUrt29hSaNWkEn)_

> **Event**
>
> **Starts:** 21 October 2026 15:30 (Europe/Paris)\
> **Ends:** 21 October 2026 16:30 (Europe/Paris)\
> **Location:** https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/326187906525012?p=odpaMUrt29hSaNWkEn