Netgain Challenge

Sharing and preserving scholarship is imperative for the advancement of research, just as openness is central to new modes of teaching and learning. Deep structural changes to the scholarly communication system are needed not only to respond to the funding crises in higher education and the emerging forms of scholarship in the digital age, but also to foster and deepen the connections between the academy and the wider public. Providing wider access to research helps citizens make informed decisions about their health care, enables small businesses to innovate, improves the effectiveness of NGOs, and challenges students at under-resourced schools. Current inequities in access to research obstructs researchers and limits international and collaborative efforts to solve society’s most intractable problems. Restricting access to research benefits no one and runs counter to the stated mission of educational and not-for-profit research institutions.