Open Divide 2025/2026 — Speakers and Topics (recording available)

mpaulhac
Tue, 08 Jul 2025 07:16:36 +0000
Event

Seven years after the publication of Open Divide: Critical Studies on Open Access in 2018, which challenged dominant narratives in scholarly publishing, a new lecture series is organized by Joachim Schöpfel (Université de Lille), Ulrich Herb (Saarland University), and Niels-Oliver Walkowski (University of Luxembourg). This twelve-month initiative, Open Divide 2025/2026, aims to provide a critical platform for discussion on the current and future state of Open Access.

Three lectures have already taken place, featuring leading voices from academia, libraries, and publishing. The series addresses a wide range of timely and often contentious topics:

the evolving role of libraries

sustainability and long-term preservation

governance and commercialization

equity, the Global South, and alternative publishing models (including shadow libraries and commons-based systems)

and, of course, the wider societal impacts of Open Science policies.

While the lecture series does not focus exclusively on Diamond Open Access, many of the themes explored—especially around equity, non-commercial alternatives, and sustainability—are directly relevant to diamond models. For anyone interested in how diamond OA fits within broader transformations in academic publishing, this series offers valuable critical context.

July 23, 2025, 5 pm CEST, Long-Term Preservation of Open Access Publications: Facts, Current Practices, and Future Outlook

Registration: for Uni.LU
@mikael.laakso, Associate Professor in Information Studies, Tampere University, Finland

This talk explores how Open Access challenges small publishers to scale, optimize workflows, and adopt AI to stay competitive.

Long-Term Preservation of Open Access Publications: Facts, Current Practices, and Future Outlook
July 23, 2025 5:00 PM (Europe/Paris) → July 23, 2025 6:00 PM (Europe/Paris)
https://unilu.webex.com/weblink/register/recaacc502afadf55c9f8bc4f44e5602c

Competition as a Driver of Progress in Academic Publishing Event

Competition as a Driver of Progress in Academic Publishing Part of the Open Divide 2025/2026 lecture series Registration: for Uni.LU Speaker: Wolfgang Benedikt Schmal, Competition Economist, Technical University Ilmenau, Germany An argument for increasing competition in academic publishing as an alternative to regulatory interventions. An argument for increasing competition in academic publishing as an alternative to regulatory interventions.

Size Matters: Why Scale is the Key Ingredient for OA Publishers (recording available) Event

Size Matters: Why Scale is the Key Ingredient for OA Publishers Part of the Open Divide 2025/2026 lecture series Registration: for Uni.LU Arend Küster, Director of CSIRO Publishing, Australia This talk explores how Open Access challenges small publishers to scale, optimize workflows, and adopt AI to stay competitive. This talk explores how Open Access challenges small publishers to scale, optimize workflows, and adopt AI to stay competitive.

Open Access and the Continued Exploitation and Alienation of Academic Labour Event

Open Access and the Continued Exploitation and Alienation of Academic Labour Part of the Open Divide 2025/2026 lecture series Registration: for Uni.LU Wilhelm Peekhaus, Associate Professor in Information Studies, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA A Marxist perspective on the structures of academic publishing and potential paths for transformation. A Marxist perspective on the structures of academic publishing and potential paths for transformation.

Publishing Beyond the Market: Open Access, Care, and the Commons Event

Publishing Beyond the Market: Open Access, Care, and the Commons Part of the Open Divide 2025/2026 lecture series Registration: for Uni.LU Sam Moore, University of Cambridge, UK A critical examination of market-driven open access models and alternative, community-centered approaches to scholarly publishing. A critical examination of market-driven open access models and alternative, community-centered approaches to scholarly publishing.

Beyond Institutional Boundaries: Shadow Libraries as Commons and the Future of Knowledge Preservation Event

Beyond Institutional Boundaries: Shadow Libraries as Commons and the Future of Knowledge Preservation Part of the Open Divide 2025/2026 lecture series Registration: for Uni.LU Zakayo Kjellström, Umeå University, Sweden An exploration of how shadow libraries enable alternative forms of knowledge preservation and dissemination. An exploration of how shadow libraries enable alternative forms of knowledge preservation and dissemination.

2026

The Global South’s Role in Shaping the Open Science Paradigm Event

The Global South’s Role in Shaping the Open Science Paradigm Part of the Open Divide 2025/2026 lecture series Registration: for Uni.LU Joachim Schöpfel (Lille University, France), Hélène Prost (INIST – Institut de l’Information Scientifique et Technique, Centre national de la recherche scientifique CNRS, France) & Behrooz Rasuli (Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology, Iran) An analysis of the Global South’s role in the open science movement and the impact of open r…

The Promise and Perils of Transparency and Openness Event

The Promise and Perils of Transparency and Openness Part of the Open Divide 2025/2026 lecture series Registration: https://unilu.webex.com/weblink/register/r9a762ba7cf870f0de2a2ead23d7a0d43 Kevin Elliott, Red Cedar Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Michigan State University, USA This lecture examines the concept of transparency in science, exploring its benefits for innovation, reproducibility, and public trust while addressing its ambiguities, criticisms, and potential paths toward re…

Who owns scholarly publishing? Event

Who owns scholarly publishing? Part of the Open Divide 2025/2026 lecture series Registration: for Uni.LU Vincent Larivière, Lecturer and researcher in information science at the University of Montreal, Canada. Corporate control of scholarly publishing has been a heated topic over the last two decades. This talk will revisit empirical evidence on corporate control of scholarly publishing, using both restrictive and inclusive data sources, and will compare open access and closed venues. It will…

Full program and registration: Making sure you're not a bot!

3 posts - 2 participants