On Reassembling Scholarly Communications: A book about the ethics and egalitarianism of open access

Originally published on eve.gd on 21 October 2020, last updated 6 September 2026.

Read this post on the web (with images, PDF and citation details)

After a Herculean effort, coinciding with open access week 2020, our edited volume Reassembling Scholarly Communications: Histories, Infrastructures, and Global Politics of Open Access has now been published by The MIT Press. It's available both in print to purchase and as a CC BY open-access download.

I wanted to take this opportunity to write a few words about the goals of the volume, which speak to my interests in open access. I think that the section headings in the book set out the themes nicely: colonial influences; epistemologies; publics and politics; archives and preservation; infrastructures and platforms; and global communities.

The first of these sections - on colonial influences - reflects my interests in the ways in which unequal paradigms of research (and higher education) have evolved, worldwide, as a result of imperialist practices and histories. The prestige economy that privileges the Anglophone academy and that pressures researchers outside of this region into conducting research that is of less local relevance has dire consequences. As Charlotte Roh, Harrison W. Inefuku, and Emily Drabinski point out in their chapter, for example, in "top" economics journals, "only 1.5 percent [of papers] were about countries other than the United States". Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou does a good job, opening the volume, in setting out, also, the ways in which these practices when combined with Article (and Book) Processing Charge models - re-enforce worldwide inequalities. Alongside the other chapters in the first section, the overarching message is clear: open access holds enormous promise for addressing the worldwide disparity of access to research. However, when we see the prestige economy (alongside inappropriate economic models) moving into the OA space, the damage appears immense. Perhaps the most prestigious scientific journal in the world, Nature, has announced that it will publish open-access papers from January 2021. The cost per paper? £8,600. This does very little to address the inequality of who may speak, even while it does allow for anyone to read. Essentially, such a model continues the patronising structure in which the Global North (a problematic term) believes itself to be a knowledge exporter, unidirectionally sending out knowledge. This is not good for the world.

their chapter
it will publish open-access papers from January 2021
a problematic term

This theme runs throughout the book. Stuart Lawson's chapter, for instance, trains a spotlight on the ways in which the public libraries in the UK have historically served imperialist functions. I could go on for a long time summarising the way that this thread works its way into almost every area of the book.

Stuart Lawson's chapter

As I write this post-publication post, though, the true nature of this book has come to me in a single sentence. This book is about the ethics of academic publishing and its transition to open access. It tries to approach this from a historically informed angle, with an eye on the future. It veers between the pragmatic/the practical and the theoretical/discursive. I edited this book -- and was ably guided by the peer-reviewers -- so that a wide range of voices could be heard beneath one 'roof', so that we can reflect on the current moment, and so we might choose to do things differently as we rush headlong forward into implementation.

Thanks to Jonathan, I'm also pleased, here, to be able to list the ToC in a nicely linked format. The chapters in the book are also available as a set of open access PDFs to coincide with Open Access Week. Following is an overview of the table of contents.

Thanks to Jonathan
as a set of open access PDFs
Open Access Week

1. Epistemic Alienation in African Scholarly Communications: Open Access as a Pharmakon – Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou

2. Scholarly Communications and Social Justice – Charlotte Roh, Harrison W. Inefuku, and Emily Drabinski

3. Social Justice and Inclusivity: Drivers for the Dissemination of African Scholarship – Reggie Raju, Jill Claassen, Namhla Madini, and Tamzyn Suliaman

4. Can Open Scholarly Practices Redress Epistemic Injustice? – Denisse Albornoz, Angela Okune, and Leslie Chan

5. When the Law Advances Access to Learning: Locke and the Origins of Modern Copyright – John Willinsky

6. How Does a Format Make a Public? – Robin de Mourat, Donato Ricci, and Bruno Latour

7. Peer Review: Readers in the Making of Scholarly Knowledge – David Pontille and Didier Torny

8. The Making of Empirical Knowledge: Recipes, Craft, and Scholarly Communication – Pamela H. Smith, Tianna Helena Uchacz, Naomi Rosenkranz, and Claire Conklin Sabel

9. The Royal Society and the Noncommercial Circulation of Knowledge – Aileen Fyfe

10. The Political Histories of UK Public Libraries and Access to Knowledge – Stuart Lawson

11. Libraries and Their Publics in the United States – Maura A. Smale

12. Open Access, “Publicity,” and Democratic Knowledge – John Holmwood

13. Libraries, Museums, and Archives as Speculative Knowledge Infrastructure – Bethany Nowviskie

14. Preserving the Past for the Future: Whose Past? Everyone’s Future – April M. Hathcock

15. Is There a Text in These Data? The Digital Humanities and Preserving the Evidence – Dorothea Salo

16. Accessing the Past, or Should Archives Provide Open Access? – István Rév

17. Infrastructural Experiments and the Politics of Open Access – Jonathan Gray

18. The Platformization of Open – Penny C. S. Andrews

19. Reading Scholarship Digitally – Martin Paul Eve

20. Toward Linked Open Data for Latin America – Arianna Becerril-García and Eduardo Aguado-López

21. The Pasts, Presents, and Futures of SciELO – Abel L. Packer

22. Not Self-Indulgence, but Self-Preservation: Open Access and the Ethics of Care – Eileen A. Joy

23. Toward a Global Open-Access Scholarly Communications System: A Developing Region Perspective – Dominique Babini

24. Learned Societies, Humanities Publishing, and Scholarly Communication in the UK – Jane Winters

25. Not All Networks: Toward Open, Sustainable Research Communities – Kathleen Fitzpatrick

Epistemic Alienation in African Scholarly Communications: Open Access as a Pharmakon
Scholarly Communications and Social Justice
Social Justice and Inclusivity: Drivers for the Dissemination of African Scholarship
Can Open Scholarly Practices Redress Epistemic Injustice?
When the Law Advances Access to Learning: Locke and the Origins of Modern Copyright
How Does a Format Make a Public?
Peer Review: Readers in the Making of Scholarly Knowledge
The Making of Empirical Knowledge: Recipes, Craft, and Scholarly Communication
The Royal Society and the Noncommercial Circulation of Knowledge
The Political Histories of UK Public Libraries and Access to Knowledge
Libraries and Their Publics in the United States
Open Access, “Publicity,” and Democratic Knowledge
Libraries, Museums, and Archives as Speculative Knowledge Infrastructure
Preserving the Past for the Future: Whose Past? Everyone’s Future
Is There a Text in These Data? The Digital Humanities and Preserving the Evidence
Accessing the Past, or Should Archives Provide Open Access?
Infrastructural Experiments and the Politics of Open Access
The Platformization of Open
Reading Scholarship Digitally
Toward Linked Open Data for Latin America
The Pasts, Presents, and Futures of SciELO
Not Self-Indulgence, but Self-Preservation: Open Access and the Ethics of Care
Toward a Global Open-Access Scholarly Communications System: A Developing Region Perspective
Learned Societies, Humanities Publishing, and Scholarly Communication in the UK
Not All Networks: Toward Open, Sustainable Research Communities

You can also find our introduction and conclusion to the book as well as acknowledgements, bibliography and contributor bios.

introduction
conclusion
acknowledgements
bibliography
contributor bios

References

This reference list has been generated, in many cases, through an automated process and may therefore contain errors or incomplete metadata. It is provided purely as assistance for finding the items mentioned within this post.

1. Albornoz et al, Can Open Scholarly Practices Redress Epistemic Injustice chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625156/Can-Open-Scholarly-Practices-Redress-Epistemic>

2. Andrews, The Platformization of Open chapter MIT Press <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625174/The-Platformization-of-Open>

3. Babini, Toward Global OA Scholarly Communications Developing Region chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625180/Toward-a-Global-Open-Access-Scholarly>

4. Becerril-Garcia and Aguado-Lopez, Toward Linked Open Data Latin America chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625176/Toward-Linked-Open-Data-for-Latin-America>

5. de Mourat Ricci Latour, How Does a Format Make a Public chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625159/How-Does-a-Format-Make-a-Public>

6. Eve and Gray, Conclusion to Reassembling Scholarly Communications MIT Press <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625183/Conclusion>

7. Eve and Gray, Introduction to Reassembling Scholarly Communications MIT Press <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625151/Introduction>

8. Eve, Reading Scholarship Digitally chapter MIT Press <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625175/Reading-Scholarship-Digitally>

9. Fitzpatrick, Not All Networks Open Sustainable Research Communities chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625182/Not-All-Networks-Toward-Open-Sustainable-Research>

10. Fyfe, Royal Society and Noncommercial Circulation of Knowledge chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625163/The-Royal-Society-and-the-Noncommercial>

11. Grammatical and Terminological Notes chapter MIT Press <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625148/Grammatical-and-Terminological-Notes>

12. Gray, Jonathan, ‘New Book: “Reassembling Scholarly Communications: Histories, Infrastructures, and Global Politics of Open Access” (MIT Press, 2020)’, Jonathan W. Y. Gray, 20 October 2020 <https://jonathangray.org/2020/10/20/new-book-reassembling-scholarly-communications-mit-press/>

13. Gray, Infrastructural Experiments and Politics of Open Access chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625173/Infrastructural-Experiments-and-the-Politics-of>

14. Grove, Jack, ‘Nature to publish open-access papers from January 2021’, Times Higher Education, 20 October 2020 <https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/nature-publish-open-access-papers-january-2021>

15. Hathcock, Preserving the Past for the Future chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625169/Preserving-the-Past-for-the-Future-Whose-Past>

16. Holmwood, Open Access Publicity and Democratic Knowledge chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625166/Open-Access-Publicity-and-Democratic-Knowledge>

17. International Open Access Week <http://www.openaccessweek.org/>

18. Joy, Not Self-Indulgence Self-Preservation OA Ethics of Care chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625179/Not-Self-Indulgence-but-Self-Preservation-Open>

19. Lawson, Political Histories of UK Public Libraries chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625164/The-Political-Histories-of-UK-Public-Libraries-and>

20. Making of Empirical Knowledge Recipes Craft chapter MIT Press <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625161/The-Making-of-Empirical-Knowledge-Recipes-Craft>

21. Mboa Nkoudou, Epistemic Alienation in African Scholarly Communications chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625153/Epistemic-Alienation-in-African-Scholarly>

22. Nowviskie, Libraries Museums Archives Speculative Knowledge Infrastructure chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625168/Libraries-Museums-and-Archives-as-Speculative>

23. Packer, The Pasts Presents and Futures of SciELO chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625177/The-Pasts-Presents-and-Futures-of-SciELO>

24. Pontille and Torny, Peer Review Readers Making Scholarly Knowledge chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625160/Peer-Review-Readers-in-the-Making-of-Scholarly>

25. Reassembling Scholarly Communications acknowledgements MIT Press <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625149/Acknowledgments>

26. Reassembling Scholarly Communications bibliography MIT Press <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625184/Bibliography>

27. Reassembling Scholarly Communications contributor bios MIT Press <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625185/Contributors>

28. Reassembling Scholarly Communications open access PDFs MIT Press <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/Reassembling-Scholarly-CommunicationsHistories>

29. Rev, Accessing the Past Should Archives Provide Open Access chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625171/Accessing-the-Past-or-Should-Archives-Provide-Open>

30. Roh Inefuku Drabinski, Social Justice and Inclusivity chapter MIT <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625155/Social-Justice-and-Inclusivity-Drivers-for-the>

31. Salo, Is There a Text in These Data DH chapter MIT Press <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625170/Is-There-a-Text-in-These-Data-The-Digital>

32. Scholarly Communications and Social Justice chapter MIT Press <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625154/Scholarly-Communications-and-Social-Justice>

33. Smale, Libraries and Their Publics in the United States chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625165/Libraries-and-Their-Publics-in-the-United-States>

34. Willinsky, When the Law Advances Access Locke Copyright chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625158/When-the-Law-Advances-Access-to-Learning-Locke-and>

35. Winters, Learned Societies Humanities Publishing Scholarly Communication UK chapter <https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4933/chapter/625181/Learned-Societies-Humanities-Publishing-and>