The creation of the new Advisory Committee on Open Science and Scholarship (OSS) was endorsed by the Governing Board in late 2023 and membership finalised in early 2024. OSS continues and builds on the work of many IFLA initiatives, including a statement on Open Access and Open Access Working Party. Its members span IFLA’s regions and many library types, showing how open science affects all parts of the profession.

The Open Science and Scholarship Advisory committee will partner and collaborate with other existing networks and organisations, and define a distinctive role for its work at the global level. The committee’s work is guided by the IFLA strategy, IFLA statement on Open Access, and key articles in the UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights. The committee works to raise awareness among the Federation, and to collaborate with other IFLA units and partners to shape opinion and debate around open access and library values, including intellectual freedom and human rights. Copyright reform and rights retention, equity, and diversity (in all forms), trust and misinformation are other central topics of interest.

Following the path set by FAIFE, CLM and other advisory committees, a key priority for OSS’s first term is to create a distinctive and shared vision for its work and priorities informed by the IFLA strategy. These can be built on and shaped by committee members in the coming years. These include openness and challenges to openness, whether from technology or regulations or equity and ethical issues. The committee will take inclusive approaches to matters involving Indigenous knowledge and data sovereignty.

Earlier this year, members shared the reasons why they are motivated to contribute to the work of IFLA through OSSAC. In April 2024, IFLA’s Open Access Vocabulary was published.  The vocabulary will be an invaluable tool for those who have responsibilities in operationalizing open publishing endeavours, and those striving to advocate for more open publishing efforts.  Future versions are planned, which will include refinements and greater availability through additional languages.

The Committee has developed an action plan, and several small groups are convening to advance specific actions. These include open access models for IFLA Journal, work on rights retention and secondary publishing rights, and equity and inclusion in open science.

In tandem with IFLA’s Information Summit in Brisbane, OSSAC is collaborating with the Advisory Committee on Copyright and Legal Matters (CLM) to offer an associated one-day event, entitled Open data – challenges and opportunities for change.

OSSAC has engaged with global processes and submitted responses to consultations including the International Science Council consultation: Key principles for scientific publishing, UNESCO’s Draft Principles for Open Science Monitoring, and a joint letter from IFLA and other organisations on open science in the UN Pact for the Future.

It has been an active and engaged first few months for OSSAC, and we look forward to sharing further news and updates.