Open Science needs more than openness to deliver fairness, report finds

Open Science can improve knowledge sharing, transparency and public participation, but openness alone does not guarantee fairness, according to the new report Equity in Open Science: Case studies of Open Science infrastructures and Open Peer Review.

The report finds that the design, governance and accessibility of repositories, publishing platforms and other research infrastructures strongly influence who can participate and benefit. Community-governed services often better reflect researchers’ needs, yet face uncertain funding and reliance on volunteer labour. Gaps across countries, disciplines, languages and research formats also restrict participation.

To address these inequalities, the report advocates 'infradiversity': a diverse, interconnected infrastructure ecosystem supporting local needs, multilingualism and disciplinary differences. Beyond access, equitable infrastructures should strengthen community leadership, public accountability and a more balanced distribution of power.

Open Peer Review presents similar trade-offs. Greater transparency can improve accountability and reviewer recognition, but early-career researchers and underrepresented scholars may face risks when openly criticising established colleagues. Publication costs, technological barriers and unpaid reviewing work remain obstacles.

The report recommends embedding equity into policy and infrastructure design, sustainably funding community-led services, adopting context-sensitive peer-review approaches, recognising editorial and reviewing labour, and monitoring equity outcomes. Emerging Publish–Review–Curate models also require investment and careful evaluation.

The findings support the “Applying Equity in Open Science” action under the European Research Area Policy Agenda 2025–2027.

The report can be downloaded here:

Equity in Open Science