Open Access in Geochemistry from Preprints to Data Sharing: Past, Present, and Future

Abstract

In this short communication, we discuss the latest advances regarding Open Access in the earth sciences and geochemistry community from preprints to findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable data following the 14f session held at Goldschmidt conference (4–9 July 2021) dedicated to “Open Access in Earth Sciences”.

The rise of preprints in earth sciences

“…Preprints have numerous, well-established advantages for both researchers and the general audience (e.g., Bourne et al ., 2017 ; Sarabipour et al ., 2019 ; Pourret and Irawan, 2022 ). It is the author’s opinion that preprints, for instance, allow: The quick dissemination of research findings, which is important for time-sensitive studies (such as those conducted after natural disasters), for early-career researchers (ECRs) applying for jobs, or for any academic applying for grants or a promotion, given that journal-led peer review can take months or even years ( Nguyen et al , 2015 ); Increased visibility and accessibility for research outputs due to the preprint’s free uploading and viewing, especially for individuals who do not have access to paywalled journals or who have restricted access because of remote working (such as during lockdowns); Increased visibility may also lead to increased interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary work in fields that would benefit from collaboration between Earth scientists and other disciplines (e.g., Dwivedi et al ., 2022 ).…”

Toward More Inclusive Metrics and Open Science to Measure Research Assessment in Earth and Natural Sciences

“…The pandemic has presumably helped scientists collaborate more across the world, but we are also running into the digital divide (Irawan et al, 2020 ). In-person meetings have always been seen as the best method to communicate with each other, but virtual conferences have shown undeniable advantages (including accessibility), and we are convinced that the future of events will be hybrid (Pourret and Irawan, 2022 ).…”

“…With such engagement, we could expect a more fluid relationship between stakeholders of science. Publishing in more languages than English will help (Pourret and Irawan, 2022 ), point out the language barrier for non-English speaking countries to understand the content of English-written scholarship outputs. Creating secondary non-conventional outputs (e.g., a YouTube video or conversational podcast) to translate a paper written in English would, in a way, help more people to understand the content of the paper.…”

The rise of preprints in Earth Sciences

“…Preprints have numerous, well-established advantages for both researchers and the general audience (e.g., Bourne et al, 2017;Sarabipour et al, 2019;Pourret and Irawan, 2022).…”