In this episode of SSP’s Early Career Development Podcast, hosts Meredith Adinolfi (Cell Press) and Sara Grimme (Digital Science) are joined by Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, Professor, and Coordinator for Research and Teaching Professional Development in the University Library, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Lisa provides a current refresh on the open access (OA) funding landscape, and more specifically on the 2022 White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Nelson Memo. If OA publishing is brand new to you as a listener of the podcast, please take a listen first to our two-part OA run-down in episode 7 and episode 8. 

Lisa gives a run-down of the OSTP Nelson Memo, how it expands on the previous Holdren Memo, where federal funding agencies currently are in their response to this mandate, as well as the next steps and implications on various stakeholders involved — institutions, individual researchers, and publishers as the service providers of this research. She also makes an important distinction between Open Access and Public Access, which feeds into a larger discussion on regional and global differences in the funding landscape. Lisa includes some advice for early career professionals on how to stay up to date with the OSTP Nelson Memo and the OA funding landscape and how to avoid getting bogged down in the ever-increasing complexity around OA. Despite OA being a buzzword for several years now, the rollout of the OSTP Nelson memo and shifts to OA publishing systems are still in their infancy, which Lisa acknowledges allows for time for all scholarly publishing professionals to parse out their own knowledge bases.  

Helpful links: 

• Early Career Development Podcast: Episode 7, Open Access (Part 1)- the basics 
• Early Career Development Podcast: Episode 8, Open Access (Part 2)- the nitty gritty 
• OSTP Nelson Memo– August 2022 
• Plan S– as an example of a non-US OA mandate 
• Global OA landscape with a focus on China– STM 

Want to learn even more? Join Lisa Wednesday and Thursday for “Open Access: Understanding Mission, Models, and Mandates,” a highly interactive 101- and 201-level workshop. Attend either session or both to fully enhance your understanding of Open Access issues.

Background on this podcast series

SSP’s Career Development Committee launched this podcast series in 2019 to offer advice and discussion on how early career publishing professionals can add to their skill sets, develop networks, and take advantage of new opportunities. The series presents interviews and insights from experienced professionals on how to navigate one’s career in a diverse and ever-changing landscape of scholarly communications. If you have any feedback for the hosts, creators, or for future episodes, please email info@sspnet.org