Who owns our knowledge? Exploring the theme of open access week 2025

At AOSIS, we believe that knowledge should be open to everyone—not confined behind paywalls or restricted to a privileged few. As a dedicated open-access scholarly journal and book publisher, our mission has always been to make research and scholarship truly accessible, supporting global collaboration and the sharing of ideas. This commitment resonates with the 2025 theme for Open Access Week (October 20–26): “Who Owns Our Knowledge?”

This year’s theme is more than a thought-provoking question—it’s a call to examine not just how knowledge is created, but who has the right to claim, control, and share it. For us at AOSIS, this is deeply personal. It echoes our belief that knowledge should be for the public good, and it reaffirms why we work every day to remove barriers to scholarly communication.

“Who owns our knowledge?” encourages all of us to think about ownership, stewardship, and access. At AOSIS, we see firsthand how important research arises from every community, and how vital it is to give a platform to all voices—including those often overlooked. Open access can help ensure that scholarship is not restricted by geography, wealth, or privilege.

As an open-access publisher, we understand both the progress and the continuing risks in the current landscape. Commercialisation—like paywalled databases, or proprietary metrics—can create new barriers. Open Access Week 2025 and its theme “Who owns our knowledge?” remind us to keep prioritising people and sustainable access.

Our service to community-led knowledge sharing

AOSIS publishes open-access books and journal articles so readers everywhere can access published content without being charged or signing in. Authors who wish to publish with us typically pay article processing charges (APCs) or book processing charges (BPCs), helping us sustain free access for the global community of readers. Importantly, we are proud that some of our journals do not require APCs, lowering barriers for authors as well. We are committed to expanding these opportunities where possible to ensure the broadest reach for valuable scholarship.

Why Open Access Week 2025 matters—To us and to you

For AOSIS, Open Access Week is an annual milestone—a chance to celebrate our progress, confront challenges, and reaffirm our core value: making published knowledge accessible for all. This year, the theme “Who Owns Our Knowledge?” encourages us and our community of authors, editors, and readers to ask tough questions and pursue change that matters.

Participating in Open Access Week is about more than a single week of advocacy. It’s an ongoing effort to host conversations, uplift local voices, share research stories, and encourage every community to take part in the worldwide movement for open, inclusive scholarship.

How you can join us for Open Access Week 2025

We invite you to stand with AOSIS and partner with the global open-access movement for a better, fairer future for knowledge.

• Host or attend events: Start a conversation at your institution about “Who owns our knowledge?” and why open access is essential.
• Collaborate with us: Work with AOSIS to publish research that is accessible everywhere. View our journal portfolio here and download our book proposal form.
• Spread awareness: Use the hashtag #OAWeek and help us advocate for true knowledge sharing online.
• Explore resources: Learn more and find tools at openaccessweek.org to support your advocacy for Diamond Open Access, and other open, sustainable models.

Final thought

At AOSIS, we know that making knowledge accessible to all isn’t just our job—it’s our passion and the primary service we provide. “Who owns our knowledge?” isn’t just a theme for Open Access Week 2025; it’s a challenge to every stakeholder in the knowledge ecosystem to rethink their role.

Let’s work together to break down barriers, amplify new voices, and ensure knowledge belongs to everyone—today, during Open Access Week, and every day.

Unlock Knowledge to the World. Will you join us in this mission?

About AOSIS

AOSIS is a leading open-access publisher of scholarly journals and books. We are committed to promoting scholarly research and facilitating knowledge sharing through our high-quality, peer-reviewed publications.