Assembly of RASPI!

Dear researchers, academics, and scientists,

We are pleased to announce the formation of the Researchers Association for Scientific Publishing Improvement (RASPI). RASPI is a community-driven initiative, founded by researchers with a clear mission: to restore the scientific publishing process to the scientific community.

Concerns and protests against the business practices of commercial scientific publishers are now widespread. High cost barriers (both to access and to publish), an overburdened peer-review system, and growing threats to research integrity from predatory journals, fabricated articles… This is a high price to pay for leaving the communication of science in the hands of the private interests of a small number of commercial publishers.

RASPI exists to address these issues directly. And to take action.

The research community has already begun to mobilize around these goals. We align with the principles and recommendations of DORA, CoARA, and the Diamond Open Access movement, which are helping to raise awareness among funding agencies and institutions. We fully support initiatives such as preprint servers, Open Research Europe (ORE), and Peer Community In (PCI) as concrete steps toward a more open and equitable system.

The model of scientific publishing - and, in parallel, the model of research funding - is at a turning point. RASPI aims to support this transition by building the critical mass needed to influence funding agencies and governments. We seek to contribute to defining the next steps toward a truly community-driven publishing system. And we aim to address a long-standing structural weakness that undermines research quality and competitiveness: the systematic underpublication of negative results (more on this in our next communication).

Now is the time: to fully leverage the possibilities offered by the internet; to consolidate the momentum already present among funding agencies; to reclaim our rights over what we publish and what we can access; and to safeguard the quality and competitiveness of scientific research.

Winds of change are stirring. Join us in shaping the key milestones of this critical moment. Follow us on X at @RASPI_comms and write to us at raspi.association@gmail.com if you already want to join us (of course the membership is free). More information in our next post.