8 key principles of scholarly publishing

Back in 2019, following the establishment of the International Science Council, its members, primarily international scientific unions and associations, national and regional scientific organisations, including academies and research councils, and international federations and societies, were asked to identify what they considered to be the most important contemporary issues for science.

Based on the discussions, the International Science Council has published eight key principles for scientific publishing.

1. The rapid and global exchange of ideas is central to the scientific process. There should be universal and rapid open access to scientific advances, for both authors and readers, without any barriers to participation, in particular those based on ability to pay, institutional privilege, language or geography.
2. Scientific publications should, by default, have open licences that allow for reuse, as well as text and data analysis.
3. Rigorous, timely and ongoing peer review should continue to play a key role in creating and maintaining a public record of scholarly activity.
4. The data and observations on which a published claim of validity is based must be both available for verification and supported by the necessary metadata.
5. The scientific manuscript should be stored in a manner that ensures Open Access for future generations.
6. Publication modes and bibliodiversity across disciplines and regions should be adapted to the respective needs, but in a way that facilitates interaction between them, taking into account multilingual communication.
7. Publication systems should be designed to constantly adapt to new opportunities for improvement, rather than introducing inflexible systems that impede change.
8. Management of scientific knowledge dissemination processes should be accountable to the scientific community.