Vägar till öppen vetenskap 2026 : Ett svenskt perspektiv på öppen tillgång till vetenskapliga publikationer

This thesis investigates the multifaceted transition to open access (OA) within research publishing. The aim is to explore the perspectives of stakeholders involved, and to understand the convergent and divergent interests in the matter. The methodological approach of qualitative content analysis is guided by two theoretical frameworks: “What’s the problem represented to be?” (WPR) and Stakeholder theory. The documents analysed include national level documents, guidelines, and recommendations. Additionally, public statements and reports by key stakeholder groups are analysed to identify respective interest. The results show that despite Sweden’s progress in the transition to OA, significant obstacles remain in achieving the 2026 goals. The dynamics of the transition is characterised by a push-and-pull effect, where a key challenge stems from conflicting goals among the researcher stakeholder group. While there are positive attitudes towards OA, there is also reluctance within this group to change publishing practices. This in turn gives commercial publishers incentives to continue their high publishing charges. Concurrently, mandates for open publishing are salient on both international and national level, which may result in enhanced implementation of policy, but also the risk of further reluctance among researchers. Crucially, a key underlying challenge is the clash between the value of the public good, shared by several stakeholders, and the profit-seeking objective of commercial publishers, benefiting from public funding. The findings provide insight into the complexity of the OA transition, highlighting stakeholder dynamics and perceived challenges in research publishing. This is a two-year master's thesis in Library and information science.