A New Model for Scientific Communication Based on Open Access and Crowdsourcing Sina Shahandeh Department of Materials Science, The University of British Columbia Open Access Repository of Knowledge Institution 1 Institution 2 Closed Access Publishers Researcher 1 Open Access Repository of Knowledge Researcher 2 Researcher 3 Researcher 4 Article Author Review Comments Field 2 Field 1 An Idea Comment Comment Suggestion The Article Review Comment Problem with Publishers and Peer Review System ● Transfer of copyright and limiting access ● Prone to errors, bias and suppression ● Lack of accountability ● Cautious of breakthroughs ● Slowing down innovation Open Access Journals ● Creates a free platform for dissemination of knowledge Interdisciplinary Links and Collaboration Crowdsourcing and Open Peer Review ● Reviews and comments from readers enable interaction from broader audience Field 1 Field 2 Field 3 Publication 1 Publication 2 Publication 3 ● Papers are read and ranked by wider audience and are reviewed based on multiple criteria e.g. originality, analysis, methodology, data, reproducibility and effectiveness. ● Users ranking credibility is weighted by their prominence and contribution to the community. Publication 4 Collaborative Creativity ● An Idea is formulated + preliminary works are reviled ● Others review and comment on the idea ● A team of collaborators is created ● Team members add data, information and analysis ● The team collaborates on writing the paper ✔ ?! Any improvement since 17 th century? Barriers for Adoption ● The system has to be known and used by a critical mass ● Institution reward system, metrics such as impact factor ● Lack of a culture of sharing and openness