09:10–09:50

Addressing the strain and drain on scientific publishing

Mark Hanson (University of Exeter)

The research ecosystem is increasingly strained. Scientists have been pushed to the Szilard Point: the ridiculous situation where the sum of effort spent obtaining funding equals the value of the funding itself. We similarly spend more effort on publishing studies than the sum value that they offer; this is due to our obsession to systematically peer review all of them, a sisyphean task. New publisher strategies exaggerate these issues by extracting further profit from scientists already facing publish-or-perish pressures. Our group calls on employers and funding agencies to lead the path to change, as they direct the finances that prop up the entire system. But we researchers must clearly define what we seek from the publishing industry, how it is failing to provide that service, and so provide guidance on how we can move forward. What we all agree on is the current system is not working. This talk is not all doom and gloom. We can enact change, but I believe it requires a philosophy many scientists find deeply counterintuitive: sometimes, less is more.

09:50–10:00

Break

10:00–10:30

20 years of community buzz

Michal Starke (MU)

10:30–11:10

Replicability in science 

Neil Jacobs (UK Reproducibility Network) 

What do we mean by ‘replicability’ in science? How does open research help? And what are universities doing about it?

11:10–11:20

Break

11:20–12:00

No Pressure, No Diamonds: stimulating community-driven publishing in the Netherlands.

Susanne van Rijn (Erasmus University Library) 

With the aim of contributing to a sustainable, biblio−divers and qualitative publishing landscape, the Dutch University Libraries collaboration UKB set up the program for Strengthening Diamond Open Access (2024-2026). This limited funding initiative has been picking low hanging fruit, by setting up an online expertise centre providing editors and researchers information on community-driven publishing, and by mapping the landscape of Dutch non-profit journals. In addition, the program has been working on aligning the publication infrastructures of the Netherlands University Presses and Openjournals, a project which will see it’s realisation in the next four years. 2026 will see the completion of the program and we are working on plans for continuation of efforts advancing diamond open access, focusing on digital autonomy, financial sustainability, and quality control. Join us to hear where The Netherlands will be heading next and share your thoughts!

12:00–13:00

Lunch break

13:00–13:30

From Open Science to Open Infrastructure: How Open Knowledge Maps Supports Transparent, Reproducible and Responsible Research

Peter Kraker (Open Knowledge Maps)

Open science is not only about open access to publications, data, and software – it also depends on the infrastructures through which researchers discover, explore, and assess knowledge. As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in scholarly workflows, ensuring that these infrastructures remain transparent, community-governed, and reproducible is becoming ever more important. 

This talk presents Open Knowledge Maps as a case study of an open infrastructure designed to support these principles. Combining open-source software, open scholarly metadata, and transparent AI methods, Open Knowledge Maps enables users to visually explore research topics, trace the evolution of research over time, and support responsible approaches to research assessment. Rather than replacing critical judgement with opaque recommendations, the platform makes the underlying evidence visible and supports informed exploration. 

Beyond its technical architecture, Open Knowledge Maps demonstrates how community governance, openness, and interoperability can contribute to trustworthy and sustainable research infrastructures. The talk will discuss how these principles are reflected in the platform’s development, present practical examples of its use in research discovery and assessment, and argue that investing in open, community-driven infrastructures is essential for strengthening the culture of reproducible and responsible science. 

13:30–14:10

The Future of Research Assessment 

Gareth O’Neill (Technopolis Group), Saša Zelenika (University of Rijeka) 

This talk will address the future of research assessment and present the findings of the OPUS project funded under Horizon Europe. The speakers will discuss the Researcher Assessment Framework, which aims to move beyond research publications in prestigious journals and instead recognise and reward researchers for a wide variety of research, education, leadership, and valorisation activities, including activities related to Open Science. The speakers will also discuss the implementation of the Researcher Assessment Framework at the University of Rijeka, including the successes, challenges, and lessons learned. 

14:10–14:50

Using Registered Reports to improve the research literature 

David Mellor (Center for Open Science) 

Registered Reports are a publishing format in which peer review occurs before the study is conducted. High-quality proposals are provisionally accepted and published regardless of outcome. The format was created in order to address several shortcomings of the traditional publishing workflow: publication bias towards statistically significant, surprising findings; a focus on outcomes over the importance of the research questions and the rigor of the methods; and an over-reliance on journal prestige as a proxy for importance or quality. This presentation will cover the mechanics of the format and some evidence of the effects it has on the resulting research.