2025 Open Access Day

The University of Northern Iowa is celebrating Open Access Week this year by hosting a campus Open Access Day during International Open Access Week in mid-October. Open Access (OA) advances science and improves society as a whole by having free access to information and unrestricted use of electronic resources for everyone.

The day's theme is "Who Owns Our Knowledge?"

The UNI community is invited to attend a lecture, "Who owns our knowledge? Rethinking Publishing in a Scholar-Led World," by Juan Pablo Alperin [Scientific Director of the Public Knowledge Project (PKP), and Associate Professor in the Publishing Program, and the Co-Director of the Scholarly Communications Lab (ScholCommLab) at Simon Fraser University]. The event is hosted by the Scholarly Communications sections of the three Iowa Regent institutions [Iowa State University, University of Iowa, and University of Northern Iowa].

Details:

• Lecture: "Who owns our knowledge? Rethinking Publishing in a Scholar-Led World," by Juan Pablo Alperin
• Date: Monday, October 20, 2025
• Time: 12 noon (Central Time) to 1:00 pm
• Location: Room LIB ScholarSpace 301 (Light refreshments) or via Zoom, Registration required

Description: This presentation will discuss how the proliferation of open access journals, led by scholars and published out of universities from around the world, are challenging publishing models, reshaping access to knowledge, and redefining the global landscape of scholarly communication.

Speaker Bio: Juan Pablo Alperin is the Scientific Director of the Public Knowledge Project (PKP), and Associate Professor in the Publishing Program, and the Co-Director of the Scholarly Communications Lab (ScholCommLab) at Simon Fraser University. Dr. Alperin is an established researcher of scholarly communications, known for bringing evidence-based perspectives to pragmatic solutions in support of open access and open science. He has published dozens of peer-reviewed publications and delivered countless presentations on related topics. He serves on the boards and steering committees of various organizations, including the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA) and OpenAlex. His work focuses on making scholarly communication more equitable, inclusive, and publicly engaged, particularly across Latin America and the Global South.