Next Steps approached in Online Workshop
Last week, we had another productive Editors4Chem workshop, bringing together representatives from publishers, infrastructure providers, and the chemistry community to advance data-driven scholarly publishing. This was jointly organised by NFDI4Chem, PSDI, CODATA and IUPAC .
A major focus of the discussion was the continued development of our Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and a roadmap towards more FAIR, machine-readable, and reusable chemistry research data. It was encouraging to see that several publishers have already started internal discussions, while additional publishers are being approached to broaden participation.
One key takeaway was the strong interest in practical pilot projects that demonstrate the feasibility of FAIR chemistry research data. Rather than waiting for long-term changes to be fully implemented and enforced, pilots involving specific journals and targeted initiatives could help test new approaches, demonstrate benefits for researchers, and accelerate adoption across the publishing ecosystem.
We also discussed incentives for authors, including awards, recognition schemes, and data badges, as well as ways to improve the connection between publications and underlying research data. The importance of bringing researchers along on this journey (not only publishers and infrastructure providers) was a recurring theme throughout the meeting. Indeed, it will take a village to change how we publish in chemistry.
Over the coming months, the Editors4Chem community will continue refining the MoU and roadmap, engaging additional publishers, and exploring pilot activities that can turn shared ambitions into practical solutions. In case of interest, please reach out to us!
Many thanks to all participants for the constructive discussions and continued commitment to improving research data practices in chemistry.
