Towards a Reference Model for Open Access and Knowledge Sharing, Lessons from Systems Research

TL;DR

This paper investigates the gap between open access policies and practices in UK systems engineering research, proposing a reference model for effective knowledge sharing based on socio-technical insights.

Contribution

It introduces an evidence-based inquiry into open access adoption in systems research and offers a reference model for improving knowledge sharing.

Findings

Open access policies are not widely adopted in systems engineering.

Socio-technical factors influence open access implementation.

Recommendations include a reference model for knowledge sharing.

Abstract

The Open Access Movement has been striving to grant universal unrestricted access to the knowledge and data outputs of publicly funded research. leveraging the real time, virtually cost free publishing opportunities offered by the internet and the web. However, evidence suggests that in the systems engineering domain open access policies are not widely adopted. This paper presents the rationale, methodology and results of an evidence based inquiry that investigates the dichotomy between policy and practice in Open Access (OA) of systems engineering research in the UK, explores entangled dimensions of the problem space from a socio-technical perspective, and issues a set of recommendations, including a reference model outline for knowledge sharing in systems research