Earlier this year, the 17th Berlin Open Access Conference (B17) brought together national delegations of research institutions and their libraries from around the world to assess progress in their transformation strategies, collectively advancing a more open scholarly publishing system and addressing emerging challenges in the increasingly complex research communication ecosystem. The OA2020 Initiative has published a comprehensive report capturing the collective wisdom and strategic direction that emerged from the conference discussions, offering pragmatic steps to address the current challenges facing the scholarly communication community and charting what can be accomplished collectively, based on the needs expressed at the event.
Hosted by the Max Planck Society and organized by the OA2020 Initiative (coordinated by the Max Planck Digital Library), B17 featured panel sessions and strategic discussions with delegates and publisher guests to tackle current priorities in the transition to open access. With insights from library consortia across six continents engaged in open access negotiations, the B17 cohort reaffirmed its commitment to advancing a fair, inclusive, and author-driven practices in scholarly journal publishing while continuing to support new, community-led models of open scholarship.
Building on progress since B16, delegates identified critical areas requiring continued focus: ensuring author rights through open licensing, promoting transparent and fair pricing models, supporting diverse publishing frameworks, and maintaining quality standards in an increasingly complex landscape. The strong consensus among all delegations produced the B17 Final Statement, which set forth the key objectives for the next phase of publisher negotiations.
Through working groups, regional engagement, policy alignment, and shared learning initiatives, OA2020 and its partners are laying the groundwork for a more accountable and community-driven publishing ecosystem. The momentum generated at B17 will carry forward into a period of intensified action, culminating in a collective stocktaking at B18 to assess progress and renew strategies for the final stages of the open access transition.
Read the full conference report for a more detailed account of the conference discussions and key outcomes.
Participants of B17 / Photo by Christine Kromer (MPDL)
