Taking Action: How to Support and Advocate for Open Infrastructure at Your Institution - Forum for Open Research in MENA Ready to move from awareness to action? This interactive, hands-on 1.5-hour workshop is designed for individuals who want to support open infrastructure and

If you work in libraries, research support, or institutional strategy, this is for you.🫵

Join the conversation to sustain open infrastructure.

🔗Register now: shorturl.at/WTEAu

+ How to actually make the case internally:
🔹Ready-to-use advocacy materials
🔹Real examples you can learn from

We've moving past theory and into actionable steps📌

This session is practical:
🔹What open infrastructure is, & why it matters
🔹How funding models like @scossfunding.bsky.social work
🔹What infrastructures need support right now

Open infrastructure is what keeps open science running, but it doesn't fund itself.

If we rely on it, we should also be contributing to it. That includes institutions across our region too.🌐

Taking Action: How to Support and Advocate for Open Infrastructure at Your Institution - Forum for Open Research in MENA Ready to move from awareness to action? This interactive, hands-on 1.5-hour workshop is designed for individuals who want to support open infrastructure and

Happening tomorrow!👀

Want to go beyond talking about #OpenInfrastructure & actually support it? Join our hands-on workshop:

Taking Action: How to Support & Advocate for Open Infrastructure

21 Apr 2026 | 10:00 GST | Online

A thread🧵👇

🔗 shorturl.at/WTEAu
#OpenScience

📣 Calling all those involved in procurement, library services, research support, or advocacy - join this free workshop about supporting & advocating for #OpenInfrastructure within your institution.

Details & registration 👇

Our OJS webinar recording is now live!

With 113 attendees from 27 countries and great feedback, it was an information-packed session. If you missed it or want a refresher, you can now watch it on our website👇

🔗: shorturl.at/3q6Bn
#OpenScience #OJS #FORM4Open

Want to support #OpenInfrastructure?

Join our hands-on #workshop on April 21 (10 am GST) & learn how to turn ideas into action. We'll guide you through it step by step, from understanding funding models to advocating within your institution.

🔗Register now: shorturl.at/WTEAu
#OpenScience

Thank you to everyone who joined our webinar yesterday on Open Journal Systems!😊

We hope you found the session useful & we really value your active engagement throughout

Stay tuned👀 the recording will be available on our website soon
#OpenScience #OJS

Thinking of starting a #ScholarlyJournal with the free and #OpenSource #OpenJournalSystems (OJS)?

Join this webinar with @forumforopen.bsky.social and @pkp.sfu.ca's Müge Bakioglu, Publication Support Specialist ⤵️

#FOSS #OpenAccess #DiamondOA

🚨Happening in just a few days!

Join our "Getting Started with #OJS" webinar on 6 April (13:00 GST) & learn how to set up, manage, & publish your journal with confidence.

Don't miss out👀 register now: shorturl.at/TxjkC
#OpenScience #ScholComm

Sharing your work as a #preprint doesn't mean you lose your chance to publish. As more journals adopt preprint-friendly policies, early sharing is becoming a key part of the research workflow, helping you gain feedback & visibility.🔎

🔗Access the full resource: shorturl.at/zg4tG
#OpenScience

New Open Research Event 🎓📆 - Getting Started with Open Journal Systems with @forumforopen.bsky.social [EN] held Online on 06/04/2026. For more info, view the event in our calendar.

This is awesome!🤩

Launching a journal or new to Open Journal Systems (OJS)?

Join our upcoming webinar for a practical, step-by-step walkthrough.

Delivered by Müge Bakioglu, Publication Support Specialist at the @pkp.sfu.ca

6 April | 13:00 GST | Online

🔗Register now: shorturl.at/TxjkC
#OpenScience #OJS #ScholComm

Eid Mubarak 🌙
The FORM team wishes you a joyful and peaceful Eid filled with warmth and togetherness.

‼️Reminder

Our webinar "Getting Started with Open Journal Systems OJS" is coming up on 6 April at 13:00 GST

Learn the basics of setting up and managing a journal on #OJS with Müge Bakioğlu from @pkp.sfu.ca

🔗Register now: shorturl.at/Ff2i0
#OpenScience #FORM4Open

Transformative agreements can work in some contexts, but they are not a universal solution for #OpenAccess.

We break down how they work, their risks, and when they may or may not make sense here👇
🔗: shorturl.at/dsPVC

Before signing a TA, institutions should ask key questions:

🔹Where do our researchers actually publish?
🔹Which journals do they need access to?
🔹Is a bundled deal the most cost-effective option?

Real internal data matter more than publisher usage reports.

Participation also depends on existing subscription budgets.🪙

Institutions with fewer resources, especially in the Global South, may struggle to enter these agreements.

This can deepen existing inequalities in scholarly publishing.

Coverage is another issue.

Researchers publishing across many journals, fields, and languages, but TAs usually cover only a limited set of titles.📚

This means many authors cannot actually use the Open Access allocations their institution pays for.

Progress toward full OA can also be slower than expected.

Hybrid journals may remain paywalled for years, meaning the publishing system changes gradually, if at all.

But there are also significant concerns.

These agreements can be extremely expensive and are often negotiated with large commercial publishers.

In some cases, they cost far more than supporting authors directly.

Why do institutions consider them?

They can simplify administration, create more predictable budgets, and offer a transitional path toward #OpenAccess.

For some libraries, this can make planning easier.📑

Two models dominate:

🔹Read & Publish
Institutions pay for access while covering OA publishing.

🔹Publish & Read
Institutions primarily pay to publish OA, with access included.

👉Both aim to support a gradual transition.

Most agreements bundle several things together:

🔹Access to subscription journals
🔹Open Access publishing for authors
🔹A single combined payment

In theory, this shifts spending from "reading" to "publishing."

A transformative agreement is a contract between an institution and a publisher.

Instead of paying only for access to journals, the institution also pays to make its researchers' articles #OpenAccess.

The idea is to move from subscription publishing toward full OA.

Transformative agreements (TAs) are often represented as a major step toward #OpenAccess. But how do they actually, and are they always the right solution for institutions?🤔

A short thread🧵👇
#TransformativeAgreements #ScholComm #OpenScience

We are pleased to welcome Al-Fateh Institute of Health Sciences (AFIHS) as a Strategic Partner!🎉

Based in Pakistan, AFIHS is a multidisciplinary institution dedicated to bridging healthcare & technology education through practical, globally connected training.

🔗Read more: shorturl.at/rfqwk

Thinking about launching a journal?📚

Join our webinar "Getting Started with Open Journal Systems (OJS)" on 6-Apr, 13:00 GST. Learn how to set up a journal, manage submissions & peer review, & publishing using #OJS.

🔗Register now: shorturl.at/l5NsK
#OpenScience #OpenAccess #ScholarlyPublishing