OAPEN: A world of scholarly books: Open to all, built to last. – OAPEN connects libraries, publishers, researchers, and funders with a global infrastructure for peer-reviewed open access books to advance research and the public good.

Strengthening Diamond OA for books: OAPEN’s role in the AEGIS-OA project

The AEGIS-OA (Activate European Guidance and Incentives for Sustainable Open Access publishing) project is working to strengthen institutional, non-profit open access (OA) publishing across Europe by leveraging and expanding the services of the European Diamond Capacity Hub (EDCH). Within this landscape, OA books play a vital role. The OAPEN Foundation (OAPEN), as a dedicated infrastructure supporting OA book publishing, is contributing its long-standing expertise in OA books to ensure that Diamond OA book publishing is fully embedded in the project’s frameworks, tools, and community-building activities.

A colourful diamond outlined by a blue shield shape with the words 'AEGIS-OA' to the right in large blue letters and 'Advancing Diamond Open Access Publishing' in smaller blue letters underneath that

At the AEGIS-OA kick-off meeting in Brussels on 20 March 2026, OAPEN and OPERAS jointly led a workshop focused on Diamond OA books. The session explored how the project’s core activities can be meaningfully adapted to the specific realities of OA book publishing, and how book publishers can be better supported, recognised, and connected across the wider AEGIS-OA ecosystem.

OA books within AEGIS-OA

AEGIS-OA builds on earlier work, including the DIAMAS and PALOMERA projects, but operates within a more compressed timeframe and with a broader scope. For OA books, this raises important questions. What does Diamond OA book publishing mean in practice? How can books be integrated into the Diamond Open Access Standard (DOAS)? How can book publishers be supported without overburdening small, community-driven initiatives?

The project is powered by a consortium of 24 partners from 16 European countries, comprising 14 beneficiary partners and 10 associated partners. OAPEN, as a beneficiary, is leading and contributing to several work packages that address these questions directly. Packages we are leading are outlined below, and a full list of work packages and tasks can be found in the approved funding call.

What OAPEN is working on

Developing DOAS adaptations for books

A central area of work is the adaptation of the Diamond Open Access Standard (DOAS) for publishers of Diamond OA books – DOAS version 2.0. This task recognises that while many principles of Diamond OA publishing apply across formats, books have different criteria, such as editorial and technical workflows, metadata requirements, and governance models.

OAPEN is leading the development of DOAS. This work involves proposing which elements of DOAS apply to both books and journals, which need modification, and where new book-specific criteria are required before validating this with the community. The result will be a practical, realistic framework that reflects how Diamond OA book publishing can work.

Resources and training materials for OA books

OAPEN is also leading work on new articles, guidelines, and training materials for OA book publishers. These resources are designed to help publishers understand and apply Diamond OA standards, strengthen their operations, and engage with certification and assessment processes.

European Diamond OA books community

Community-building is another core strand of OAPEN’s work in AEGIS-OA. OAPEN is contributing to the development of a European Diamond OA Books Community that brings together book publishers, National Capacity Centres (NCCs), infrastructures, and other stakeholders.

This includes expanding representation of OA book publishers in the EDCH Registry and Forum and addressing practical questions such as how Diamond OA book publishers should be evaluated, and whether existing criteria can be adapted fairly for books. The community is also seen as a space to collectively review and refine DOAS version 2.0, ensuring that it reflects real publishing practice.

Sustainable Diamond OA publishing

AEGIS-OA will also focus on the challenges facing the stakeholders involved in the financial support of the Diamond OA model and on the challenges relating to the practical arrangements for funding for both book and journal publishers. This will be done in conjunction with the NCCs and the OA Books Policy Forum facilitated by OAPEN, Science Europe and cOAlition S.

What comes next

Over the course of the project, OAPEN’s contributions will result in concrete deliverables. These include DOAS version 2.0 integrating books and journals, new resources and training material, and a draft workflow for inclusion in key infrastructures such as the European Diamond Capacity Hub Registry and the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB).

Together, these outputs aim to improve visibility and recognition of Diamond OA books, and support sustainable, community-governed publishing models across Europe.

AEGIS-OA offers a unique opportunity to ensure that OA books are fully part of Europe’s Diamond OA future. OAPEN is proud to play a central role in making that happen.

Update on platform stability: Our continuous effort to protect community access

Aggressive content-harvesting bots and automated systems are generating increased traffic to open infrastructure platforms and library repositories, creating a community-wide challenge. This activity places significant strain on open platforms, affecting normal operations and services that users depend on.

Concerns about the long-term impact of bot scraping were highlighted at a 2025 Charleston Conference panel, ‘Bot war: Will evil AI-scraping bots succeed in destroying our open digital libraries?’, which raised questions about the future sustainability of open platforms.

Despite these issues, we remain and persist in our effort to provide our normal services as we always have. Therefore, we want to provide an update on the intermittent access issues that some users may experience when visiting the OAPEN Library and the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB).

Understanding the challenge

Our platforms are currently under a sustained, high-volume struggle from automated traffic. This traffic consists primarily of aggressive content harvesting bots and automated systems scanning for vulnerabilities. If left unmitigated, this activity would overwhelm our infrastructure, cause outages, and ultimately deny access to the global scholarly community we exist to serve.

Our response: protecting legitimate access

To safeguard stable and reliable access for researchers, students, librarians, publishers, and the general public, we have implemented proactive security controls. The primary measure is rate limiting coupled with temporary IP restrictions.

When our systems detect an IP address making an exceptionally high number of requests in a short period, characteristic of automated scraping, access from that address is temporarily restricted. Affected users will see the following message:

“Access Temporarily Restricted: We have detected an unusually high volume of requests from your network. To protect the stability of our service for all users, access has been temporarily limited for 24 hours. If you are a legitimate user and believe this is an error, please contact our support team.”

Additionally, we will whitelist IP ranges for the libraries supporting us, so that users accessing OAPEN or DOAB from the library networks get better access to our services.

This targeted approach allows us to limit disruptive traffic while providing a clear, straightforward path for genuine users to regain access.

How you can help ensure uninterrupted access

OAPEN and DOAB are free and open to everyone, and registration or login is not required for access. However, anyone can create an account (not only publishers and other professionals), and being logged in can help reduce the chance that your IP address is temporarily restricted by our automated protection measures. Authenticated sessions are trusted and are far less likely to be flagged by our systems.

If your access is restricted:

Wait for the temporary block to expire. The standard restriction period is 24 hours.

Log in to your account (see instructions below). Login is not a prerequisite to access the OAPEN Library and DOAB, but a helpful measure to avoid blocks.

Contact our support team. If the issue persists and affects your work, please reach out to us at [email protected].

Providing your IP address can help us investigate.

To login to the OAPEN Library, click the ‘Join’ button in the top-right corner of the window and proceed to login if you already have an account or register as a new user.

To login to DOAB, click the ‘Publisher login’ in the navigation bar at the top of the window and proceed to login if you already have an account or register as a new user.

Why these measures are essential

OAPEN and DOAB are non-profit, community-serving infrastructures. Our mission is to guarantee open, equitable, and resilient access to scholarly books. Permitting uncontrolled automated exploitation as performed by these AI bots directly contradicts this mission, threatening the service for everyone. The protections we have in place are not merely technical safeguards; they are a necessary commitment to our community’s ability to rely on us.

Together with our server hosting partner, CERN, we are continuously monitoring the situation and refining our systems to improve their accuracy and minimise any impact on real users. This work remains a top operational priority.

We thank you for your patience and continued support.

The OAPEN & DOAB Team

Meet the OAPEN&DOAB Ambassadors An Interview with Mandy Taha DOAB Ambassador for Egypt

What motivated you to join DOAB as an ambassador?

I am motivated to join DOAB as an ambassador as I strongly believe in the importance of opening up knowledge and fostering better interaction across the regions and to ensure a more sustainable and equitable flow of scholarly exchange. Being a DOAB ambassador will enable me to strengthen my role in the MENA region in promoting scholarly communications by leveraging the OAPEN & DOAB collections and services. This will be of great benefit to many stakeholders across the local scholarly community, not least academic publishers and their authors.

How do you plan to drive open access books publishing in your country/region through your work as a DOAB ambassador?

As a DOAB ambassador I will have the opportunity to present and promote open access books publishing in my region through events, conferences, and discussion groups, for instance during highly followed events like the yearly Open Access Week. I will similarly be engaging in academic social networks and social media. In this way I hope to increase awareness about the benefits of open access and also increase the uptake of open academic publications. In this capacity, I will strive to promote best practices and support high-quality scholarship, metadata, and naturally also underscore the importance of dissemination and visibility of local scholarly content.

What or who inspires you in your role?

I am inspired to motivate peers of community members of scholars, researchers, and other stakeholders to learn about the services provided by DOAB and the importance of the mission- and value-driven impetus behind healthy community-building endeavours. Of course, an important dimension is bilateral collaboration across the wider ecosystem. Part of this task is engaging stakeholders in driving further open access publishing in Egypt.

What are the biggest challenges you see in advancing open access book publishing in your country/region?

In addition to the well-known financial barriers which make publishing open access expensive and accessible only to a few, I also see the importance of educating practitioners and raising awareness about open access as a critical need in overcoming barriers. A means to this is stressing the opportunities that open access publishing offers, while at the same time debunking common myths about publishing open access, like alleged lower quality of the publications and poorer peer review standards, less prestige and visibility etc. , etc..

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I hope my community of scholars and faculty in the MENA region will learn about DOAB’s and OAPEN’s resources and services in the hope that it can incentivise them and decide to engage more academic publishers and research funders in using and promoting them to drive open access book publishing. In doing so, this engagement can foster more collaboration and vibrant exchange of academic scholarship across Egypt and beyond, increasing the visibility of research from the MENA region and also promoting more diversity. Ultimately, such open and inclusive scholarly communication contributes to the broader social and cultural advancement of society.

Building the future of OAPEN and DOAB: Our technical roadmap for 2026

Since the OAPEN Library was launched at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2010, our organisation has grown from a bold idea into a global infrastructure pillar for open access (OA) books. Today, more than 40,000 peer-reviewed titles are hosted on our platform, discovered by millions of readers worldwide, trusted by hundreds of publishers and over 300 supporting libraries.

The Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) was launched by OAPEN in 2013 and became an independent foundation in 2019, jointly managed by the OAPEN Foundation and OpenEdition. It’s a community-driven discovery service that indexes and provides access to scholarly, peer-reviewed OA books, helping users find trusted OA books and OA book publishers.

But fifteen years of intense, mission-driven growth also means fifteen years of accumulated technical decisions. Some have aged well. Others now require deliberate, strategic modernisation.

In 2025, we took two important steps to prepare for the next fifteen years.

First, we commissioned an independent technical review by the Curtin Institute for Data Science at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. We had previously worked with them on the Book Analytics Dashboard project so they knew our infrastructures fairly well and we know they have strong capabilities with data infrastructures. The report, delivered in July 2025, provided a comprehensive, evidence-based diagnosis of our infrastructure, workflows, and codebase – and a clear set of recommendations.

Second, we strengthened and grew our technology team after Ronald Snijder departed in the summer of 2025. Transitions of this kind are never easy, but they also create opportunities for renewal. In October, Dr Anna Wałek joined as our new Head of Technology, bringing extensive experience in digital library transformation and open science infrastructure. Her appointment marked a turning point: we now have strategic leadership dedicated entirely to our technical roadmap.

We also recruited to fill critical gaps. Vaggelis Theodorakopoulos, our Platform Engineer, and Sinziana Paltineanu, then Project Manager and now one of our three Metadata & Systems Specialists, remained as anchors of continuity. Wiktor Florian joined in December 2025 as Metadata & Systems Specialist, bringing data engineering expertise. Hanna Varachkina joined in January 2026 as Metadata & Systems Specialist, to strengthen our metadata quality and publisher communication from a technical standpoint.

The team is now fully staffed, with clear roles, a shared mandate, and a unified plan.

Today, we are ready to share the result of these efforts: our technical roadmap for 2026.

The foundation: Curtin review and a new team

The Curtin review was never intended to be a document to shelve. It was commissioned as a working instrument, and it has served exactly that purpose. The report confirmed both our strengths – the trust of the community, the richness of our metadata, the dedication of our staff – and the areas where investment is long overdue.

On the infrastructure side, the review highlighted risks associated with running DSpace 6.3 (unsupported since 2023), an outdated Solr version requiring manual management, and a metadata export service that has become increasingly difficult to maintain. Upgrading these core systems is essential not only for security and stability, but also to enable faster search, more accurate discovery results, and better integration with library catalogues and external services – improvements that publishers, librarians, and researchers will directly experience.

On the workflow side, it documented what many publishers have told us directly: manual steps in the deposit process, particularly email notifications after FTP uploads, create unnecessary friction. Metadata updates and withdrawals still require human intervention. The statistics dashboard, while valued, no longer meets the expectations of users who need flexible, timely reporting.

With the Curtin analysis in hand and a complete team in place, we spent the final months of 2025 translating recommendations into concrete projects. The result is our technical roadmap for 2026.

Our 2026 Roadmap: Five strategic priorities

Based on the Curtin recommendations and our own internal audit, we have organised our technical work for 2026 around five core priorities. Each has a clear owner, timeline, and measurable outcomes.

1. Automation of the deposit workflow for OAPEN Library

Publishers depositing books with OAPEN should not have to send an email to confirm an FTP upload. Our new, fully automated pipeline will detect files, validate and transform metadata, check for duplicates, import content into DSpace, and register the book in OAPEN – all without manual intervention. [Pilot expected Q2 2026].

2. Transition from IRUS-UK to OpenAIRE

Over the past years, the OAPEN Dashboard has become an essential tool for many publishers, libraries, and funders collaborating with OAPEN. It provides evidence of impact, supports reporting to funders, and helps demonstrate the global reach of OA books. We know how much our communities rely on it, and we take that responsibility seriously.

IRUS-UK will be retired in April 2026 by Jisc. OAPEN continued sending complete usage data to the service, but this data has not been made available since October 2025 until February 2026. Rather than investing further resources into a decommissioned service, we are accelerating our migration to OpenAIRE. This will provide a COUNTER-compliant, sustainable analytics infrastructure that is more within our control. [Target: Q2 2026].

3. Upgrade of DSpace and Solr

Migrating from DSpace 6.3 to a modern, supported version 10 is a complex operation, but it’s also non-negotiable. Upgrading these core systems is essential not only for security and stability, but also to enable faster search, more accurate discovery results, and better integration with library catalogues and external services – improvements that publishers, librarians, and researchers will directly experience. [Target: Q3 2026].

4. Metadata enrichment and improved discoverability for OAPEN Library and DOAB

Our current metadata schema has been minimal by design. To meet publisher expectations and library requirements, we are expanding ONIX field support, enabling automated metadata updates and withdrawals, and implementing PRISM peer-review metadata. [Q3 2026].

5. Intelligent management of AI bot traffic

The surge in traffic from AI crawlers has repeatedly threatened platform stability (see our blogs from April 2025, May 2025, and November 2025). Together with CERN, we have deployed rate limiting and improved monitoring. We are now working with the broader open infrastructure community to develop shared principles for ethical, sustainable traffic management. [Continuous 2026].

What this means for our community

We know that a roadmap like this – full of upgrades, migrations, and automation – doesn’t look spectacular from the outside. Much of this work happens beneath the surface. It doesn’t appear in search results or dashboard widgets. It won’t make headlines.

But it’s precisely this kind of unglamorous, persistent investment that has kept OAPEN and DOAB running for fifteen years.

Every migration we undertake, every manual process we automate, every line of legacy code we replace – these are not ends in themselves. They are our commitment to you that the infrastructure you rely on today will still be here tomorrow. That the books you publish, fund, and curate will remain discoverable, accessible, and safe.

We are publishing this roadmap because we believe trust is not a given. It is built, daily, through transparency and follow-through. And we believe that the libraries and publishers who support us – financially and otherwise – deserve to see where their investment is going, namely into foundations that will serve them at least the next fifteen years.

Acknowledgements

None of this work would be possible without the trust and support of our community. We thank the Curtin Institute for Data Science for their rigorous and constructive review. We thank CERN for their continued partnership and technical excellence. We thank the funders and 300+ libraries worldwide whose financial contributions sustain our operations. And we thank the hundreds of publishers who entrust us with their content every day.

Fifteen years ago, infrastructures like OAPEN and DOAB were viewed merely as passion projects. Today, they are indispensable parts of the OA book infrastructure ecosystem. The roadmap we have shared today is our commitment to ensuring resilient and trustworthy infrastructures supporting scholarly communication.

Meet the OAPEN&DOAB Ambassadors An Interview with Danny Kingsley DOAB Ambassador for Australia

What motivated you to join DOAB as an ambassador?

I had the privilege of working for OAPEN in 2023-2024 as a Community Manager where I explored what was happening in the open book space in countries around the world (non-Europe and US). It became clear quite quickly that this is very complex and having local understanding and connections is essential. I strongly believe in the philosophy and practice of open scholarship so when I was offered a role in Australia I could not refuse, I suggested to OAPEN that I stay connected as an Ambassador. We didn’t know what that would look like at the time and I am delighted that the program is really taking shape in 2026.

How do you plan to drive open-access books publishing in your country/region through your work as a DOAB ambassador?

There has been significant work in Australia on the development of Open Educational Resources (incorporating not just books but also other resources). While the books in DOAB and OAPEN are, by definition ‘not textbooks’, some research work I undertook with colleagues demonstrated that these open books are being used for the purposes of teaching and learning (see: Tracking the Use of Open Educational Resources Sounds Simple. It Isn’t). This finding is a helpful argument for financial support of the use of these resources.

During that research work we identified the significant amount of open book publishing happening in Australian universities. As a member of Open Access Australasia and also the Australian Scholarly Communication Community of Practice, I hope to hold some discussions with the community about the need to join our activities strategically across the nation (and within the region with our colleagues in Aotearoa/ New Zealand.) We should also ensure this publishing is taking advantage of the centralised services offered by DOAB to further promote their publications.

The need for support of open infrastructure in the current geopolitical climate is more urgent than ever, and I am looking to engage in discussions for us to reframe the way we think about this within institutions. Libraries across the globe are one of the largest support groups for DOAB, and we need to be considering this support as legitimate payment for a service (rather than a donation). I would like to look at ways to demonstrate this through presenting analysis of usage and engagement with the DOAB service. In this way I can develop a position that can be adopted by others if they choose to assist their internal discussions.

What or who inspires you in your role?

I have been very lucky to have had some wonderful mentors over my career who have guided and advised me. I gain great inspiration from the global scholarly communication community who work on all aspects of open scholarship. There are so many talented, intelligent, creative and fun people in the community that it is hard not to remain enthusiastic. I also like a challenge and the constantly shifting nature of the open landscape keeps me intellectually stimulated and on my toes!

What are the biggest challenges you see in advancing open-access book publishing in your country/region?

Australia has always had good pockets of activity in the open space and has a strong community of practitioners within our libraries. Australia is a signatory to the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, so there is international alignment in theory. However we lack leadership at the country level on the topic. Unlike an increasing number of countries across the world Australia has no position on ‘open’. The funding policies that do exist do not align with each other and are not monitored for compliance so are less effective than they could be. This is a constant challenge for the progress of open scholarship locally. I saw first-hand in the UK, when working at Cambridge University on implementing national open access policies, how having government-level policies effects rapid and universal change. I can only dream of something like that happening here.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

There is a need for local and culturally appropriate engagement across the globe on the topic of open, and in particular open access books. Having a team of Ambassadors across the world will be really helpful to progress these discussions and activities. I look forward to learning from my Ambassador colleagues about what is happening across our different locations and working with them to progress the open agenda.

OAPEN Library Dashboard update – IRUS-UK Data Feed Restored

We are pleased to confirm that as of 9 February 2026, the IRUS-UK service has resumed processing OAPEN Library usage data. The Dashboard is now receiving updates again, and publishers will have access to current usage statistics going forward.

However, we must also share disappointing news: data from the period between 17 October 2025 and 9 February 2026 cannot be recovered.

What happened?

On 17 October 2025, IRUS-UK stopped making OAPEN usage data available via their API. Throughout the entire period, our logs – verified with CERN – confirm that we continued to send complete usage data without interruption. The issue was on the IRUS-UK side, not ours.

We were in regular contact with Jisc, providing logs and assistance to help resolve the problem. We also kept publishers informed – everyone who contacted us received the information we had at the time.

Why the data cannot be recovered?

IRUS-UK has confirmed that its system does not accept retrospective data. Once the interruption occurred, the data for those months was effectively lost. No amount of effort on our part – or theirs – can restore it.

We understand how frustrating this is. Usage data is essential for demonstrating impact, reporting to funders, and understanding readership. A gap of nearly four months is a real loss, and we are deeply sorry.

What now?

The good news is that the feed is now working again. Current data is flowing, and the Dashboard will reflect new usage from this point forward.

IRUS-UK will be retired in April 2026, and we are building a modern, sustainable analytics infrastructure that we will fully control – one that will not leave publishers in this position again.

Thank you!

To everyone who contacted us, asked questions, and stayed patient through this: thank you. We know this has been difficult, and we are grateful for your understanding.

If you have questions about specific titles or need assistance interpreting the available data, please reach out. We are here to help.

The OAPEN Tech Team

Pade Awọn Aṣojú OAPEN & DOABÌfọ̀rọ̀wánilẹ́nuwò pẹ̀lú Dókítà Sadiat Adetoro SalauAṣojú DOAB fún Nàìjíríà

Kí ni ó fà ọ́ láti darapọ̀ mọ́ DOAB gẹ́gẹ́ bí aṣoju?

Ìwúrí mi láti darapọ̀ mọ́ DOAB gẹ́gẹ́ bí aṣojú in Nigeria wá láti inú ìjìbára mi pẹ̀lú pẹpẹ DOAB fún ìgbà pípẹ́ gẹ́gẹ́ bí olùṣètò-ìwé ni ile-ìkàwé tí mo tiń ṣiṣẹ́; Mo ti ṣe ìtọ́kasí àwọn olùlò wa àti àwọn ile-ìkàwé mìíràn sí àwọn ìwé ìtàkùrọ̀sí lórí DOAB. Èyí ni ọ̀nà mi láti san ìrànlọ́wọ́ tí DOAB fún ilé-ìkàwé mi síwájú.

Bákan náà, gẹ́gẹ́ bí akọ́wé ilé-ìkàwé atìlẹyìn ìwádìí àti ajàfẹ́tọ̀ọ́ ìwọlésí ọ̀fẹ́, mo ṣàkíyèsí pé ìfarahàn àwọn ìwé àti àkọsílẹ̀ tí a tẹ̀jáde ní Orílẹ̀-èdè wà nínú ètò ìmọ̀ àgbáyé kò pọ̀, bí ó tilẹ̀ jẹ́ pé ìtẹ̀jáde ìwé fún ìgbésókè ni ìlé-éko pọ̀. Gẹ́gẹ́ bí pèpé àgbáyé, DOAB bá ìpinnu mi mu déédé láti mu ìwárí àti àtúnlò ìmọ̀ ìjìnlẹ̀ Áfríkà ní ìlọsíwájú. Gẹ́gẹ́ bí aṣojú DOAB, mo lè mú ìpinnu yìí ṣẹ.

Báwo ni o ṣe ń gbero láti ṣe agbega ìtẹ̀jáde ìwé tí gbogbo ènìyàn lè wọlé sí ní orílẹ̀-èdè rẹ/tabi agbègbè rẹ nípasẹ̀ iṣẹ́ rẹ gẹ́gẹ́ bí aṣoju DOAB?

Ìdojúkọ mi yóò wà lórí àwọn agbègbè méjì tí ó sopọ̀ mọ́ ara wọn – ìkọ́ni àgbára àti ìlànà ìdásílẹ̀.

Mo gbèrò láti bá àwọn akọ̀wéilé-ìkàwé, àwọn ilé-ìtẹ̀wé yunifásítì, àti àwọn olóòtú ṣiṣẹ́ nipasẹ̀ àwọn nẹ́tíwọ́ọ̀kì ọjọ̀gbọ́n àti àwọn ìkẹ́kọ̀ọ́ láti mú kí òye ìlànà ìtẹ̀jáde ìwé OA àti àwọn ọ̀nà ìwárìí dára sí.

Ní àpá ìlànà ìdásílẹ̀, èmi yóò ṣe ìgbìmọ̀ fún ìdàpọ̀ tí ó dára jù láàrin àwọn àkójọpọ̀ ilé-ẹ̀kọ́, àwọn ìgbésẹ̀ ìtẹ̀jáde ìbílẹ̀, àti àwọn pẹpẹ ìwárìí àgbáyé bíi DOAB, láti rí dájú pé àwọn ìwé ìràhùn-ọ̀fẹ́ Nàìjíríà kìí ṣe tí wọ́n tẹ̀ jáde nìkan ṣùgbọ́n pé wọ́n ṣí hàn lọ́pọ̀lọpọ̀ àti pé a lè tún wọn lò. Ní àfikún, èmi yóò ṣe ìgbìmọ̀ fún ìfisílẹ̀ àwọn ìwé ìràhùn-ọ̀fẹ́ sínú àwọn ìjíròrò lórí àtúnṣe ìdíwọ̀n ìwádìí.

Kí ni tàbí ta ló ń fún ọ ní ìmísí nínú ipa rẹ?

Ní ìbẹ̀rẹ̀, ìmúlò ìṣọ̀kan àti ìtẹ̀síwájú nínú ìfọwọ́sowọpọ̀ láti mú kí gbogbo ènìyàn ní àǹfààní sí àwọn ohun èlò ẹ̀kọ́ ní Nàìjíríà. Ẹ kú ìyìn púpọ̀ sí àwọn olùkọ́ ilé-ìkàwé, àwọn olóòtú, àti àwọn akẹ́kọ̀ọ́-òjògbọ́n tí ń jẹ́ kí àtẹ̀jáde ìmọ̀ ṣí sílẹ̀, tí ìjọba àwùjọ sì ń darí, máa bá a lọ káàkiri ayé láìka àwọn ìṣòro tó wà.

Mo tún ní ìmísí láti inú iṣẹ́ tí LIBSENSE ń ṣe níbi ìbáṣepọ̀ agbára, ìlànà, àti amáyédẹrùn tí àwùjọ ń darí fún ìmọ̀ ṣí sílẹ̀ àti sáyẹ́ǹsì ní Ìwọ̀-Oòrùn Áfíríkà. DOAB ń fi díẹ̀ nínú àwọn ìlànà wọ̀nyí hàn ní ìṣe gidi, ìfarahàn yìí sì jẹ́ orísun ìmísí tó lágbára fún iṣẹ́ mi gẹ́gẹ́ bí aṣojú DOAB.

Àwọn ìṣòro tó tóbi jùlọ wo ni o rí ní ìtẹ̀síwájú ìtẹ̀jáde ìwé tí gbogbo ènìyàn lè wọlé sí ní orílẹ̀-èdè rẹ/tabi agbègbè rẹ?

Àwọn ìṣòro tí mo rí ni àìní agbára nípa àwọn ìlànà ìtẹ̀jáde, amáyédẹrùn, àti àwọn àpẹẹrẹ ìṣúná tí ó lè yáyà.

Meet the OAPEN&DOAB Ambassadors An Interview with Dr Sadiat Adetoro Salau DOAB Ambassador for Nigeria

What motivated you to join DOAB as an ambassador?

My motivation to join DOAB as an ambassador for Nigeria comes from my long-standing engagement with the DOAB platform as a librarian; I have referred our users and other libraries to open books on DOAB. This is my way of paying the access DOAB afforded my library forward. Also, as a research support librarian and open access advocate, I observed that the visibility of locally published books and monographs within the global scholarly infrastructure is low, despite the frequency of book publishing for promotion and tenure assessment. As a global platform, DOAB is a platform that aligns closely with my commitment to improving the discovery and reuse of African scholarship. As a DOAB ambassador, I can achieve this commitment.

How do you plan to drive open-access books publishing in your country/region through your work as a DOAB ambassador?

My focus will be on two interconnected areas- capacity building and infrastructure.

I plan to engage librarians, university presses, and editors through professional networks and training sessions to improve understanding of OA book publishing standards and discovery pathways.On the infrastructure side, I will advocate for better integration between institutional repositories, local publishing initiatives, and global discovery platforms such as DOAB, to ensure that Nigerian open-access books are not only published but also widely visible and reusable. In addition, I will advocate for the inclusion of open-access books in discussions on research assessment reforms.

What or who inspires you in your role?

Firstly, democratising access to education resources in Nigeria. A big shout-out to librarians, editors, and scholars who are sustaining open and community-driven publishing models globally despite the challenges.

I am also inspired by the work LIBSENSE is doing at the intersections of capacity, policy and community-driven infrastructure for open access and science in West Africa. DOAB reflects some of these principles in practice, and that alignment is a strong source of motivation for my work as a DOAB ambassador.

What are the biggest challenges you see in advancing open-access book publishing in your country/region?

The challenges I see are capacity gaps around publishing workflows, infrastructure, and sustainable funding models.

A New Automated Deposit Workflow for OAPEN and DOAB: More Efficient, Faster, and Robust

We are excited to share a significant update on the progress of our technical strategy. In direct response to the key findings from the Technical Review of the OAPEN Library and the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) by the Curtin Institute for Data Science, alongside our internal audit, we are moving from analysis to concrete implementation.

These changes, initiated and driven forward by the now fully staffed OAPEN and DOAB technology team, are a concrete step in addressing the report’s core recommendations around scalability, automation, auditability, and the reduction of manual metadata handling.

From semi-automated to fully automated

Our semi-automated workflow (involving manual file discovery and handling, automated processing, and manual validation) will be replaced by a fully automated pipeline. This new system comprehensively handles file discovery, management, transformation, and validation end-to-end. While the list of changes may look simple, it is the result of months rethinking how we approach metadata deposit, transformation, and quality control for greater sustainability and robustness.

Tangible impact so far:

Increased throughput: From processing ~10-100 books per day to hundreds, or even thousands per day (when incoming metadata is correct, and testing is complete).

Major efficiency gain: Processing up to 10 times faster compared to the previous workflow.

Key technical improvements:

Migration from Virtual Basic for applications to Python: For better long-term maintainability, enhanced testing, and easier integration with internal and external services.

Early validation and error reporting: Identifying critical metadata gaps sooner and notifying publishers faster.

Expanded ONIX coverage: Includes legacy and non-standard field locations used by older or variant ONIX feeds.

Automatic record separation: Records automatically sorted into those that are valid and ready to publish, and those requiring metadata improvement, significantly speeding up the review process.

Improved auditability: Detailed run summaries and structured reporting of missing data and issues.

What we’re working on now:

Further hardening the metadata transformation to reduce edge-case failures.

Developing an improved metadata schema better aligned with library and community standards.

Updating publisher guidelines to reflect our changes and to make critical fields mandatory.

Close coordination with publishers to improve data quality, consistency, and alignment.

What this means for publishers

To support publishers through this transition, we will be sharing updated guidance on the required and recommended metadata fields, along with practical examples and common issues to avoid. The new workflow is designed to make deposit faster and more predictable when metadata is complete and to provide earlier, clearer feedback when critical elements are missing, so issues can be corrected quickly and with less back and forth. If records are flagged as needing improvement, publishers will receive structured information on what needs attention, helping them resolve problems efficiently and resubmit with confidence. We will also proactively contact affected publishers where we see recurring issues or where changes in requirements may have an impact, with the goal of ensuring continuity of service and minimizing disruption.

We want to emphasise that the full potential of this new system can only be realised with clean, complete metadata.

Meet the team behind the changes

This strategic shift is powered by the dedication of our technology team:

Dr. Anna Wałek | Head of Technology

Leads technology development and infrastructure strategy, driving the implementation of our technical roadmap.

Wiktor Florian | Metadata & Systems Specialist

Lead engineer for the core automation project, leveraging his data engineering background.

Sînziana Păltineanu | Metadata & Systems Specialist

Provides subject matter expertise and ensures metadata quality and standards.

Hanna Varachkina | Metadata & Systems Specialist

Coordinates publisher communications and analyses common metadata anomalies.

Vaggelis Theodorakopoulos | Platform Engineer

Responsible for DSpace development and migration coordination to new systems.

We will continue to share updates as our new workflow matures. Thank you for your continued support of open access and metadata quality. If you have any questions about these changes, please contact us at [email protected].

认识 OAPEN 与 DOAB 大使：对 DOAB 中国大使 Alicia Wang 的一次访谈

问题一：是什么促使您加入 DOAB 并担任大使？

我希望通过倡导开放获取图书，为全球科学向开放科学的转型有所贡献，让更多有价值的出版成果能够惠及更广泛的读者。正是出于对支持与促进国际学术交流的愿望，我选择加入中国图书进出口（集团）有限公司，负责推动中外学术交流项目，并参与促进文化交流的非营利性或使命驱动型项目。在工作中结识的许多同仁也给予了我很深的影响，例如颜帅先生（DOAJ大使）和郭晓锋女士（Crossref大使）。见证他们对中国学术出版展现的热忱与产生的实际影响，触发我接任DOAB大使这一角色。

问题二：作为DOAB大使，您计划如何通过自己的工作推动您所在国家/地区的开放获取图书出版？

作为DOAB大使，我计划依托中国图书进出口（集团）有限公司的平台和渠道，将DOAB更深入地融入中国学术生态系统。我的工作将围绕以下三个方面展开：

第一，借助国际活动平台扩大开放获取在中国的影响力并建立新的全球合作关系。例如，北京国际图书博览会（BIBF）可作为重要平台，聚焦开放获取图书出版议题，推动与中国出版机构的专题研讨与交流合作。这类活动将帮助出版界更好地理解全球向开放科学的转型趋势，以及开放获取图书在其中扮演的角色。

第二，拓展并深化对中国机构的推广合作。通过与国内学术机构、研究图书馆紧密协作，我将积极推广DOAB，使其成为研究人员信赖的学术资源发现平台，同时也为有意发展开放获取图书出版项目的机构提供切实可行的建议。

第三，推动DOAB加入开放科学促进联合体。作为中国开放科学促进联合体（OSPC）的秘书处单位，中国图书进出口（集团）有限公司将积极促进DOAB与OSPC的合作。此举既能让DOAB及时把握中国开放获取的发展动态与政策走向，也能提升DOAB在中国核心学术群体中的认知度。

问题三：是什么或谁在您的角色中给予您启发？

我主要的动力来源于中国开放科学领域的”开拓者”，特别是颜帅先生和党冉女士（分别代表DOAJ和Crossref）。他们用实际行动表明，大使的职责不仅在于代表一个组织，更在于构建学术共同体，并推动国际最佳实践在本土落地。

问题四：在您所在的国家/地区，您认为推进开放获取图书出版面临的最大挑战是什么？

主要挑战在于现行的学术评价体系。在中国，研究人员的激励机制严重向期刊文章（尤其是被SCI或Scopus收录的论文）倾斜，因为这些期刊拥有易于量化的”影响因子”。而图书的出版周期天然较长，且在许多评审委员会眼中缺乏类似的标准化学术声望评估指标，导致学者对投入时间撰写著作（更不用说开放获取图书）更加犹豫。我们需要推动学术界从”期刊优先”的思维定式，转向更全面地认识图书的独特价值。

此外，图书出版费用（BPC）的资助模式尚未像文章处理费（APC）那样成熟或普及。但这恰恰为我们重新思考开放获取图书的发展路径提供了契机，促使我们探索更公平、更具包容性的开放获取实现方式。

问题五：您还有什么需要补充的吗？

我非常期待与DOAB团队的合作。我尤其希望了解更多针对中国地区的具体战略目标。通过使我们的本地行动与DOAB的全球路线图保持一致，我们可以确保中国学术图书在国际舞台上获得更高的可见度、可发现性和影响力。

Meet the OAPEN&DOAB Ambassadors An Interview with Alicia Wang DOAB Ambassador for China

What motivated you to join DOAB as an ambassador?

I want to contribute to the global transition towards open science by advocating for open access books so that more valuable publishing outputs can benefit a broader audience. My commitment to support and promote international scholarly exchange brought me to join CNPIEC, where I oversee projects that foster academic dialogue between China and the world and non-profit or mission-driven initiatives that promote cultural exchange and open dialogue. I have also been deeply inspired by the work of my personal friends and colleagues I have met during work, such as Mr. Shuai Yan (DOAJ ambassador) and Ms. Xiaofeng Guo (Crossref ambassador). Witnessing their enthusiasm and the tangible impact they have had on the Chinese publishing community inspired me to step into this role for DOAB.

How do you plan to drive open access book publishing in your country/region through your work as a DOAB ambassador?

I plan to leverage CNPIEC’s established infrastructure and professional networks to integrate DOAB more deeply into the Chinese scholarly ecosystem. My approach is built around three aspects:

Leveraging international events, like the Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF), to broaden OA impact in China and build new global partnerships:
the Beijing International Book Fair could prove an influential platform to facilitate discussions and networking opportunities with Chinese publishers, with a focus on open access book publishing. These activities will help publishers better understand the global shift towards Open science and the role OA books play within it.

Broaden and deepen institutional outreach in China:
Through close collaboration with domestic academic institutions and research libraries, I will promote DOAB as a trusted discovery resource for researchers, as well as a practical option for institutions interested in developing their own open access book publishing initiatives.

Strategic Integration with OSPC:
CNPIEC serves as the secretariat of the Open Science Promotion Consortium (OSPC) in China. I will actively seek collaboration between DOAB and OSPC, enabling DOAB to stay informed about open access trends and policy developments in China, while simultaneously increasing awareness of DOAB among key Chinese stakeholders.

What or who inspires you in your role?

I am primarily inspired by the “pioneers” of open science in China, specifically Mr. Shuai Yan and Ms. Ran Dang (representing DOAJ and Crossref respectively). They have shown that an ambassador’s role is not just about representation, but about building a community and facilitating the adoption of international best practices.

What are the biggest challenges you see in advancing open access book publishing in your country/region?

The primary challenge is the current academic evaluation system. In China, the incentive structures for researchers are heavily weighted toward journal articles (specifically those indexed in SCI or Scopus) because they have established “Impact Factors” that are easy to measure.

Books, by nature, have a longer publication cycle and lack a similarly standardised “prestige metric” in the eyes of many evaluation committees. This makes researchers more hesitant to invest time in writing books, let alone Open Access ones. There is a need to shift the mindset from”journal first” to a more holistic view that recognises the unique value of longform publications. Furthermore, the funding models for Book Processing Charges (BPCs) are not yet as mature or widely available as Article Processing Charges (APCs). However, this is a good opportunity to rethink the trajectory for OA books and seek OA paths that are altogether more equitable and inclusive.

I am very much looking forward to working with the DOAB team. I am particularly interested in hearing more about your specific strategic goals for the Chinese region. By aligning our local activities with your global roadmap, we can ensure that Chinese scholarly books are more visible, discoverable, and impactful on the international stage.

Temui Para Duta OAPEN & DOABWawancara dengan Maria Lamury, Duta DOAB untuk Indonesia

Apa motivasi anda untuk bergabung sebagai duta DOAB?

Pada saat saya bekerja sebagai pustakawan, dana untuk pembelian buku cetak atau melanggan platform e-book tidak terlalu besar untuk pengembangan koleksi perpustakaan. Meskipun banyak e-book gratis yang tersedia di internet, kredibilitas pengarang dan penerbit seringkali dipertanyakan. Saya bersyukur dengan adanya mekanisme pengujian kualitas pada DOAB, pengguna di seluruh dunia dapat mengetahui bahwa karya ilmiah yang dikumpulkan dan disebarluaskan dapat dipercaya.

Apa rencana anda untuk mendorong penerbitan buku akses terbuka di negara/wilayah anda dengan bergabung sebagai duta DOAB?

Dengan menjadi duta DOAB, saya dapat membantu pustakawan di negara saya untuk mengakses data yang terpercaya pada buku-buku akses terbuka yang sudah diuji kualitasnya serta mendorong penerbit buku akses terbuka dalam memperbaiki kualitas publikasi dan metadata mereka dengan mendukung DOAB dan pada saat yang bersamaan mendapat manfaat dengan bergabung pada Trusted Platform Network. Pada jangka panjang, bermitra dengan DOAB dapat membangun komunitas buku akses terbuka yang mendukung penerbit dalam mengelola publikasi sesuai dengan standar yang diakui.

Siapa yang menginspirasi anda dalam peranan ini?

Bagi saya, Dr. John Willinsky, tokoh kunci di balik Open Journal Systems (OJS), yang menginspirasi saya dalam peranan ini. Beliau memulai dengan visi yang tulus untuk membuat pengetahuan dapat diakses secara terbuka oleh publik dan kini OJS telah menjadi sistem penerbitan dan pengelolaan jurnal yang paling banyak digunakan di seluruh dunia. Saya sangat beruntung dapat bekerja bersama beliau pada beberapa proyek selama dua tahun terakhir dan telah membuka mata saya terhadap pentingnya berkomitmen terhadap akses terbuka dan konsisten untuk membagikan pengetahuan kepada orang lain.

Apa tantangan terbesar yang anda lihat dalam mengembangkan penerbitan akses terbuka di negara/wilayah anda.

Indonesia adalah pengguna terbesar Open Journal Systems dan banyak jurnal akses terbuka yang secara aktif bersaing untuk dapat diakui sebagai publikasi yang berkualitas, untuk akreditasi nasional dan dapat diindeks di database bibliografis internasional seperti DOAJ. Namun, saya tidak melihat usaha yang sepadan dalam membangun dan mempromosikan buku-buku akses terbuka. Saya percaya bahwa ini adalah kesempatan bagi saya untuk kembali ke ‘akar’ dan bekerja kembali dengan para pustakawan dan penerbit buku akses terbuka untuk meningkatkan kesadaran akan pentingnya pekerjaan DOAB dan untuk mempromosikan cara terbaik guna mendukung penerbitan buku akses terbuka.

Apa ada yang ingin anda tambahkan?

Kontribusi saya mungkin hanya sebuah langkah kecil, tetapi dengan komitmen yang kuat dan usaha bersama dengan komunitas, saya berharap suatu hari nanti Indonesia dapat menjadi penerbit terbesar dari buku-buku akses terbuka di seluruh dunia.

Meet the OAPEN&DOAB Ambassadors An Interview with Maria Lamury DOAB Ambassador for Indonesia

What motivated you to join DOAB as an ambassador?

When I worked as librarian, I found it was difficult for the library to get sufficient budget to purchase printed books or subscribe to e-book platforms to enhance our library collections. Although many free e-books are available on the internet, the credibility of their authors and publishers can often be questionable. Thanks to the quality assurance mechanisms DOAB has in place, users around the world know that the scholarly content it aggregates and disseminates can be trusted.

How do you plan to drive open access books publishing in your country/region through your work as a DOAB ambassador?

By becoming a DOAB ambassador, I can help librarians in my region access reliable data on quality-assured OA books and encourage OA book publishers to improve the quality of their publications and metadata by supporting DOAB and at the same time benefitting from joining the Trusted Platform Network. In the long term, in partnership with DOAB, we can establish an OA books community that supports publishers in managing their publications according to recognised standards.

What or who inspires you in your role?

I would say that Dr. John Willinsky, the man behind the Open Journal Systems (OJS), has been the inspiration for me in this role. He began with a genuine vision to make knowledge freely accessible to the public and now OJS is the world’s most widely used journal management and publishing system. It was an honour to work with him on several projects over the past two years and has opened my eyes to the importance of committing to OA and consistently sharing knowledge with others.

What are the biggest challenges you see in advancing open access book publishing in your country/region?

Indonesia is the largest user of Open Journal Systems and many OA journals actively ‘compete’ to be recognised as qualified publications, aiming for national accreditation and visibility in international bibliographic databases such as DOAJ. However, I do not see the same level of effort on developing and promoting OA books. For this reason, I believe it is an opportunity for me to return to my roots and work closely with librarians and OA book publishers to raise awareness of the important works of DOAB and to promote best practices to support OA books publishing.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

My contribution may be only a small step, but with strong commitment and collective community effort, I hope Indonesia will one day become a leading publisher of open access books in the world.

OAPEN & DOAB Elçileriyle Tanışın: Türkiye DOAB Elçisi Ramazan Turgut ile Söyleşi

Ramazan Turgut, açık bilim, akademik iletişim ve dijital araştırma altyapılarının kesişim noktasında çalışan bir yayıncılık uzmanı ve akademisyendir. Hâlen Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)’da Yönetici Editör olarak görev yapmakta; bu kapsamda dergilerin açık erişime geçiş süreçlerini desteklemekte ve metadata, yayın etiği ile editoryal iş akışlarında iyi uygulamaların benimsenmesini teşvik etmektedir.

S1. DOAB’a elçi olarak katılma motivasyonunuz neydi?

Kariyerimin önemli bir bölümünü, Türkiye’de yayımlanan dergi ve kitapların uluslararası dizinlerde görünürlüğünü artırmaya adadım. Bu süreçte çoğu zaman dergiler için DergiPark gibi ulusal altyapılardan, kitaplar için ise üniversite yayınevlerinden yola çıkıldığını gördüm. Bu görünürlüğün araştırmacılar, kurumlar ve yerel topluluklar açısından ne kadar dönüştürücü olabildiğine birebir tanıklık ettim. DOAB, açık erişimli kitaplara küresel ölçekte erişim sağlarken bibliyoçeşitliliğe ve yerel yayıncılık geleneklerine saygı göstermesiyle benzersiz bir rol üstleniyor. Türkiye’deki açık erişim topluluğu açısından DOAB, mevcut dergi altyapılarını doğal bir şekilde tamamlayan bir yapı olarak öne çıkıyor; DOAJ gibi platformlar aracılığıyla dergilerin hâlihazırda sahip olduğu küresel görünürlüğü DOAB kitaplara kazandırıyor. Elçi olmak benim için son derece doğal bir adımdı: DOAJ’daki çalışmalarımı, metadata ve altyapı konusundaki deneyimimi, bilgiye açık ve adil erişime yönelik uzun soluklu mesleki bağlılığımı ve kitaplara duyduğum kişisel tutkuyu bir araya getirme imkânı sunuyor.

S2. DOAB elçisi olarak yürüttüğünüz çalışmalar aracılığıyla ülkenizde/bölgenizde açık erişimli kitap yayıncılığını nasıl geliştirmeyi planlıyorsunuz?

Öncelikli hedefim, Türkiye’deki yayıncıları, editörleri ve kütüphanecileri dinlemek ve DOAB ile çift yönlü, karşılıklı faydaya dayalı bir ilişkiyi nasıl kurabileceğimizi birlikte anlamak. Pek çok paydaş açık erişimli monografilere ilgi duyuyor; ancak teknik iş akışları, metadata ya da kalite kriterleri konusunda tereddüt yaşayabiliyor. Amacım süreci sadeleştirmek ve anlaşılır kılmak: Türkçe webinarlar ve uygulamalı destek sunmak, yayıncıların yüksek kaliteli metadata hazırlamalarına yardımcı olmak ve onları DOAB ve OAPEN topluluğuyla buluşturmak. Buna paralel olarak, kurumsal yayınevleri, üniversite kütüphaneleri ve DOAB, DOAJ, Crossref ve OpenAIRE gibi küresel altyapılar arasında daha güçlü köprüler kurmayı hedefliyorum. Böylece Türkiye’de yayımlanan açık erişimli kitapların doğru şekilde dizinlenmesi, güvenilir bulunması ve dünya genelinde kolayca keşfedilebilir olması mümkün olacaktır.

S3. Bu roldeki çalışmalarınızda size ilham veren kişi veya unsurlar nelerdir?

Sınırlı kaynaklarla çalışmalarına rağmen açık erişime güçlü bir bağlılık gösteren küçük üniversite yayınevleri, kütüphaneciler ve editörler beni sürekli olarak motive ediyor. Türkiye’de, neredeyse hiç özel altyapısı olmayan, ancak bilginin paylaşılması gerektiğine dair güçlü bir inançla etkileyici dergi ve kitap programları oluşturan ekipler gördüm. Ayrıca Türkçe, Kürtçe veya Arapça gibi dillerde yayın yapan ve buna rağmen çalışmalarının küresel akademik tartışmaların bir parçası olmasını isteyen araştırmacılardan da ilham alıyorum. Yerel bağlamı korurken uluslararası görünürlüğü sağlama yönündeki bu çabalar, daha iyi metadata, çok dilli keşif ve daha kapsayıcı altyapılar üzerine çalışmam için beni teşvik ediyor.

S4. Ülkenizde/bölgenizde açık erişimli kitap yayıncılığının gelişmesindeki en büyük zorluklar nelerdir?

Türkiye’deki temel sorunlardan biri, açık erişimli monograflar için sürdürülebilir finansman ve politika çerçevelerinin eksikliğidir. Pek çok kurum açık erişimi ilkesel olarak desteklese de, kitaplara yönelik somut politikalar, bütçeler ve iş akışları henüz yeni yeni oluşmaktadır. Türkiye’de açık erişimli dergilerin büyük çoğunluğu, ulusal ölçekte paylaşılan DergiPark platformundan faydalanmaktadır; ancak açık erişimli kitaplar için henüz benzer bir ortak altyapı bulunmamaktadır. TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM’in bu yönde bir platform fikrini değerlendirdiğini biliyorum. Böyle bir girişimin hayata geçmesi, özellikle üniversite yayınevleri tarafından üretilen açık erişimli kitaplar için oyunun kurallarını değiştirebilir. Ulusal bir kitap platformu, bu boşluğu doldurarak üniversite yayınevlerinin, özellikle Türkçe yayınlar açısından, açık erişimli kitapları sürdürülebilir biçimde yayınlamasını önemli ölçüde kolaylaştırabilir.

Buna ek olarak, kalite konusuna dair bazı belirsizlikler ve yanlış algılar da mevcut. Yazarlar zaman zaman açık erişimli bir kitabın “daha az ciddi” ya da “daha az prestijli” algılanabileceğinden endişe edebiliyor; oysa bunun doğru olmadığı açıktır. Son olarak, teknik kapasite de bir engel oluşturabilmektedir; kalıcı tanımlayıcılar, XML ya da yüksek kaliteli çok dilli metadata gibi unsurlar göz korkutucu görünebilir. Elçi olarak rollerimden biri, bu zorlukların aşılabilir olduğunu ve DOAB gibi altyapıların yayıncıları tam da bu yolculukta desteklemek için var olduğunu göstermek.

S5. Eklemek istediğiniz başka bir husus var mı?

Elçilik rolümün yanı sıra, “Language Agnostic Knowledge” adlı işbirliğine dayalı bir girişimde yer alıyorum. Bu girişim, yapay zekâ ve anlamsal teknolojilerin İngilizce dışındaki araştırmaların küresel altyapılarda daha görünür hâle gelmesine nasıl katkı sağlayabileceğini inceliyor. Bu çalışma, benim için DOAB’ın misyonuyla doğrudan bağlantılıdır: Açık erişim, kitaplar yalnızca ücretsiz okunabilir olmakla kalmayıp, yazıldıkları dilden bağımsız olarak kolayca bulunabildiğinde gerçekten anlam kazanır. Türkiye’den ve daha geniş bölgeden gelen açık erişimli kitapların, kendi koşullarıyla ve kendi dillerinde uluslararası akademik diyaloğun tam anlamıyla bir parçası olduğu bir geleceğe katkı sunmaktan büyük heyecan duyuyorum.

Meet the OAPEN & DOAB Ambassadors An interview with Ramazan Turgut DOAB Ambassador for Turkey

Ramazan Turgut is a publishing specialist and academic working at the intersection of open science, scholarly communication, and digital research infrastructure. He currently serves as Managing Editor at the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), where he supports the transition of journals to open access and promotes best practices in metadata, publication ethics, and editorial workflows.

What motivated you to join DOAB as an ambassador?

I have spent most of my career helping journals and books from Turkey become visible in international indexes, often starting from national infrastructures such as DergiPark for journals and local university presses for books, and I’ve seen first-hand how transformative that visibility can be for researchers, institutions, and local communities. DOAB plays a unique role in giving open access books a global reach while respecting bibliodiversity and local publishing traditions. For the Turkish open access community, DOAB feels like a natural complement to existing journal infrastructures, because it offers books the same kind of global visibility that many journals already enjoy through platforms like DergiPark. Becoming an ambassador felt like a very natural step: it allows me to bring together my work in DOAJ, my experience with metadata and infrastructure, my long-standing professional commitment to open, equitable access to knowledge and personal passion for books.

How do you plan to drive open access books publishing in your country/region through your work as a DOAB ambassador?

My first priority is to listen to publishers, editors, and librarians in Turkey and understand how to establish a bidirectional and mutually beneficial relationship with DOAB, to drive forward open access books publishing together. Many are interested in open access monographs, but may feel unsure about technical workflows, metadata, or quality criteria. I want to demystify the process: offering webinars and hands-on support in Turkish, helping publishers prepare high-quality metadata, and connecting them with the wider DOAB and OAPEN community. In parallel, I hope to build stronger bridges between institutional presses, university libraries, and global infrastructures such as DOAB, DOAJ, Crossref, and OpenAIRE, so that open access books from Turkey are properly indexed, trusted, and easily discoverable worldwide.

What or who inspires you in your role?

I am constantly inspired by small university presses, librarians, and editors who are committed to open access even when they work with very limited resources. In Turkey, I’ve seen teams build impressive journal and book programmes with almost no dedicated infrastructure, just a strong belief that knowledge should be shared. I’m also inspired by scholars who publish in languages like Turkish, Kurdish or Arabic and still want their work to be part of global conversations. Their efforts to balance local relevance with international visibility motivate me to work on better metadata, multilingual discovery, and more inclusive infrastructures.

What are the biggest challenges you see in advancing open access book publishing in your country/region?

One major challenge in Turkey is the lack of sustainable funding and policy frameworks for open access monographs. Many institutions support open access in principle, but concrete policies, budgets, and workflows for books are only just emerging. In Turkey, most open access journals benefit from the shared national platform DergiPark, but there is not yet a comparable common infrastructure for open access books. I know that TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM is exploring the idea of such a platform. If this materialises, it could be a real game-changer, especially for open access books produced by university presses. A national book platform, if realised, could fill this gap and make it much easier for university presses to publish open access books sustainably, especially in Turkish.

There is also some uncertainty and misunderstanding around quality: authors sometimes worry that publishing an open access book might be seen as “less serious” or “less prestigious”, which is, of course not true. Finally, technical capacity can be a barrier; things like persistent identifiers, XML or high-quality multilingual metadata can feel overwhelming. Part of my role as ambassador is to show that these challenges are solvable, and that infrastructures like DOAB exist precisely to support publishers on this journey.

Anything else you would like to add?

Beyond my ambassador role, I’m involved in a collaborative initiative called “Language Agnostic Knowledge”, which explores how AI and semantic technologies can make non-English research more visible in global infrastructures. For me, this is closely connected to the mission of DOAB: open access only becomes truly meaningful when books are not just free to read, but also easy to find, regardless of the language they are written in. I’m excited to contribute to a future where open access books from Turkey and the wider region are fully part of the international research conversation, on their own terms and in their own languages.