Academic and professional content for the developing world

Research4Life unites partners for recommitment to research equity and SDGs

At a special event held during the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM) Reception on October 14, 2024, in Frankfurt, Germany, Research4Life brought together key publishing leaders to recommit to its mission of providing equitable access to research. The ceremony emphasized the growing urgency to accelerate progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and reaffirmed the important role that publishers have in closing the knowledge gap between high-income and low-income countries.

Ceremony highlights

Caroline Sutton, CEO of STM, opened the event with a passionate appeal to the audience. “Research4Life is a cause close to my heart. It’s incredible to see how over 200,000 journals, books, and databases are made accessible to researchers across lower- and middle-income countries, often at little or no cost. Research4Life has been operating on limited resources for too long. We hope this recommitment signals renewed energy and support to bring Research4Life’s service up to the standards of top global institutions like Harvard or Oxford”, she said.

Gracian Chimwaza, past chair of the Research4Life Executive Council and Executive Director of ITOCA, emphasized the importance of the Country Connectors Program, which empowers local researchers to engage with the global scientific community. “Access to research is just the beginning,” said Chimwaza. “We’re implementing strategies to ensure researchers in countries like Bhutan, Tanzania and Ukraine are not only consuming research but also leading it—becoming authors, editors, and collaborators.”

Kimberly Parker, the Hinari Programme Manager of the World Health Organization, who has been with Research4Life since it first became available to users, reflected on the program’s history and future direction. “From the launch in 2001 when the first six publishers joined together to sign a letter of commitment in London, Research4Life’s focus and strategy has shifted to place our target community at the center with our most recent partners meeting being held in Nairobi, Kenya hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme. The impact of Research4Life is now proven, with a World Intellectual Property Organization study showing access contributing to a 75% increase in scientific output in low- and middle-income countries. This recommitment to Research4Life reflects our joint commitment to the future to improve access, strengthen partnerships and advocate for policies that support equitable access to knowledge and sustainable development of research infrastructures.”

Publishers statement of intent

At the heart of the event was the signing of Research4Life’s Publisher’s Statement of Intent. Recognizing that access to knowledge is a critical factor in addressing the world’s biggest challenges, the undersigned publishers reaffirmed their commitment to Research4Life’s mission of fostering a globally inclusive research environment. This recommitment aligns with the partnership’s recent declaration of ‘Research4Life as an Enabler for the Future of Humanity’ linking up with the outcomes of the United Nations Summit of the Future. It also supports the call from UN Secretary-General António Guterres for a ‘decade of action,’ as publishers strive to advance research efforts that contribute to the SDGs.

The publishers also recommitted to supporting the Country Connectors initiative, which serves as a key means for broadening research participation and building capacity at regional and national levels.

Sarah Phibbs, STM Director of Research4Life Publisher Partnerships, reflected on the significance of the event: “This was a wonderful celebration of our partners’ commitment to global knowledge exchange between higher-income and lower-income regions. It’s also an opportunity for Research4Life to contribute to the IPA’s SDG Publishers Compact 1000 Actions Campaign. It’s not too late to sign up to the Commitment—do get in touch!”.

The event concluded with a collective photo of signatories and a renewed call for publishers to join the mission, ensuring sustainability through financial and technical support.

For more information or to get involved, please contact Sarah Phibbs, Director, Research4Life Publisher Partnerships at [email protected].

 

About Research4Life

Research4Life is a partnership of five UN agencies, WHO, FAO, UNEP, WIPO, ILO, Cornell and Yale Universities, the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers and up to 200 international publishers. Research4Life‘s mission is to build an inclusive, diverse and equitable scholarly communications environment by delivering free or low-cost access and user-focused training and resources to researchers in low- and middle-income countries. https://www.research4life.org

About STM

At STM we support our members in their mission to advance trusted research worldwide. Our roughly 150 members collectively publish ~60% of all English language journal articles and tens of thousands of monographs and reference works. As academic and professional publishers, learned societies, university presses, start-ups and established players, we work together to serve society by developing standards and technology to ensure research is of high quality, trustworthy and easy to access. We promote the contribution that publishers make to innovation, openness and the sharing of knowledge and embrace change to support the growth and sustainability of the research ecosystem. As a common good, we provide data and analysis for all involved in the global activity of research.