A review of open access policy options for development research funders

There has been a decline in Open Access publishing among development research funders. This decline is despite significant investment in achieving open access: we estimate between $74 million and $81 million was spent on article processing charges (APCs) in 2023 by 21 research funders.

Global development research funders have historically been champions of Open Access. Yet given that progress on Open Access is stalling, some funder's policies now need a refresh. Research funder open access policies are a key tool for ensuring published research is permanently publicly available and findable, and are a potential means to reform the research publishing system. 

Development research funders will only achieve societal impact from their research investments if everybody is able to access and reuse research findings. When strengthening their open access policies they need to balance the advancement of Open Access, support for research equity for the Global South, value for money, and the administrative burden on researchers and institutions. Funders should also explicitly consider their goals and values. 

This paper provides a set of tools to do just that. 

Only with equitable access to both read and publish research can the full range of evidence be available to address the world’s most pressing challenges.

Read our blog post summarising the policy paper. To read more about the wider project see Strengthening Science Diplomacy and Official Development Assistance Policy for Research Publishing Reform.