Addressing structural inequalities in research information

It is well known that OpenAlex is a more inclusive source of research information than any of the closed alternatives. Their more inclusive indexing policy should be celebrated, as it opens the possibility of research assessment that legitimately considers all research—regardless of where it is published. This is a key promise and opportunity of relying on open research information, but for this promise to be fulfilled, it needs to be a core part of the work of all the Barcelona Declaration signatories. This presentation will show, through the analysis of over 45,000 journals published using PKP’s OJS, that there are structural inequalities in access to scholarly infrastructures that, despite best efforts, are keeping thousands of journals from being included. In our analysis, we found that journals that assign DOIs are more likely to be indexed, but that around 15,000 journals assign them incorrectly (i.e., their DOIs do not resolve); others are using DataCite DOIs, because they are cheaper, but contain less detailed metadata. In addition, very few journals using OJS share their references through Crossref, leading to misrepresentation of their circulation in the literature. An open database like OpenAlex allows us to study and address these limitations, but we cannot expect data improvements to only be made by and for those whose institutions have the resources to do so. Working towards developing open research information systems is an opportunity to address structural information inequities. Doing so will require a proactive effort to improve the availability of research information from communities that have been historically excluded—not just from our own.