[IP-OA_Forum] Final Statement of the 18th Berlin Open Access Conference published

["OA Forward" <contact@oaforward.org>]

Dear colleagues,

The Final Statement of the 18th Berlin Open Access Conference (B18) is now published on the OA Forward website: https://oaforward.org/b18-conference/final-statement/

B18 was held 15–18 September 2026 at the Max Planck Society's Harnack House in Berlin. It brought together delegations of research performing and research funding organizations from 40 nations and six continents, including researchers, university and research leadership, libraries and national library consortia, ministries and funders. Publishers also contributed to sessions and discussions, and we are grateful for their engagement. The statement represents the strong consensus of the delegations present.

The statement returns to the defining purpose of agreements with publishers, whether described as transformative, open access or open publishing agreements: to increase the sovereignty and autonomy of the research community and to better serve its interests. It sets out the research community's expectations for publishing services, from finite resources and academic labor, equitable participation and author rights to open research information, trust and integrity, and computational research and AI. It also calls for terms secured in one agreement to be available to all.

For libraries and consortia, the statement is a shared reference to bring to negotiations and to share with researchers, institutional leaders and funders. For publishers, it offers a clear, common reference for what the research community expects, and an invitation to make progress together.

Slides and posters from the conference will be added to the website in the coming days. Later this month, OA Forward will publish Next steps for our community, a companion text setting out how the community can support these expectations in practice.

Best regards,

Colleen

 

 

Colleen Campbell
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

OA Forward

 

colleen.campbell@oaforward.org

+49 160 9725 1536

 

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