In October 2020, UNESCO made the case for open access to enhance research and information on COIVD-19. It also joined the World Health Organisation and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in calling for open science to be implemented at all stages of the scientific process by all member states.

COKI co-lead Professor Lucy Montgomery writes in The Conversation that the rush to develop responses to COVID-19, combined with the forced move to online education for many students had entrenched open access as fundamental to research collaboration across the world, but much more needs to be done.

Australia’s flagship Australian Research Council has required all research outputs to be open access since 2013. But researchers can choose not to publish open access if legal or contractual obligations require otherwise. This caveat has led to a relatively low rate of open access in Australia.

Read Professor Montgomery’s full analysis here.