Implementing policy

The session brings together speakers from different stakeholders that are involved in influencing policies and recommendations in the area of scholarly communication. Of particular interest is how international documents such as the UNESCO recommendations on Open Science and the EU Council conclusions on high quality scholarly communication are used in and by the organisations the speakers represent. The session will specifically address the interplay between policies and/or guidelines from the organisations that the speakers represent and overarching international recommendations, how international recommendations are translated into national policies and action.  

Scholarly communication is inherently international, and this means there must be certain harmonisation in recommendations, guidelines and policies. Yet there are disciplinary and national differences and a diversity of publishers and stakeholders in the publishing landscape that researchers encounter. While there is a need for an internationally shared approach, there must also be space for diversity and difference in both understandings of the problem to be solved as well as in actions with identified problems. Hence, this makes it interesting to inquire into what notion of the problem stakeholders engaged in making and implementing recommendations, policies and guidelines intend to solve as well as to what degree this kind of documents can be harmonised.