In October 2015, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) convened a meeting to catalyze dialogue about opportunities for philanthropic organizations to expand their understanding and implementation of open access. This two-day forum sought to bring together a diverse array of stakeholders — primarily US-based private research funders, but also including international governmental funders, universities, and others — to start a “community of practice”, or regular collaboration among key players in the push toward openness.
Philanthropic organizations have increasingly expressed an interest in open access and open data as means to translate funded research to action. These groups view the open sharing of the work they support as a way to accelerate discovery and maximize research impact. The RWJF/SPARC forum offered an opportunity for funders to share their experiences, the lessons they have learned through the process of developing and implementing open policies, and their assessments of how the policies have fared thus far.
As an outcome of the RWJF/SPARC forum, SPARC is pleased to release this meeting summary, which details the presentation delivered at the meeting (including a keynote by Dr. Phil Bourne of the NIH), as well as the next steps in the development of the proposed community of practice. Research funders interested in learning more about how to get involved should contact Greg Tananbaum at [email protected].
RWJF/SPARC Convening Public Report _April 2016