We are so pleased with how our Community Development Series is gathering traction, that we wanted to tell you all about it!

The Community Development Series offers practical guidance on a broad array of issues relating to the implementation of Open Science policies and practices in scholarly ecosystems, via monthly events held in collaboration with non-profit organisations and open source solutions providers.

Our first event was held in February, in collaboration with the International Science Council, and addressed the issue of preprints. Preprints are contentious topic at present. On the one hand, the need for rapid evaluation and dissemination of vitally important research during the COVID-19 pandemic really highlighted the value of preprints. However, on the other hand, ensuring the quality and integrity of published research (by conducting rigorous peer review of preprint materials) is problematic.  We are hugely grateful to International Science Council for gathering an amazing group of expert speakers to dissect this issue and highlight its particular relevance for our region, and our network thoroughly enjoyed this important and thought-provoking seminar.

Our second event was held in March, in collaboration with Knowledge E, and offered a much needed exploration of the rise in predatory practices in academia and the threat this poses to scholarly communications and the wider research ecosystem, together with tips on how to identify and avoid predatory journals and predatory conferences. The event was very well attended, and we have received numerous calls to repeat it.

In the coming months, we have a number of other activities planned, covering key themes and topics related to the development and implementation of Open Science policies and practices, challenges faced by research communities, and potential solutions. In particular, in May we have presentations from the Managing Editor of the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and the Director of cOAlition S, and over the summer months we are looking forward to collaborating with ORCID and the Public Knowledge Project.

To watch recordings of past events and register for upcoming events, click here.