How Science Diplomacy Can Reshape Global Research Publishing: A Theory of Change

In today’s digitally interconnected world, the swift exchange of knowledge and research should be commonplace and should drive substantial advancements in health, well-being, and prosperity globally. Yet our current research publishing system is holding us back, deliberately restricting access to research to generate profit and impeding collaboration and innovation, particularly for researchers in lower-income countries. While organisations like UNESCO and cOAlition S have made some progress towards Open Access research, reforms have been slow and, in certain ways, counterproductive. These reforms have too often substituted one set of barriers for another or focused too narrowly on individual or institutional changes, neglecting the broader political and policy environment. Strategic, high-level political and diplomatic engagement is critical, yet underutilised, in uniting behind a vision and driving substantial research publishing reform. In this paper, we propose a vision for a reformed research publishing system that is accessible, high quality, and useable, with targeted reforms in the three domains of financing, infrastructure, and governance. We outline a theory of change in order to use science diplomacy to elevate research publishing reform to the international agenda and drive more effective global leadership and governance of this important global digital system. We note that the G20, as a broad and globally representative international forum, is well-positioned to spearhead research publishing reform efforts. We provide a case study to illustrate how the theory of change could be applied to the G20 to achieve national open access policy reform through science diplomacy, thereby reducing barriers to research access and creating a more inclusive and effective global research publishing system.