Radboud Open Science Inspirator: Jasper Krommendijk

“Not long ago, I needed a chapter from a book published in 2006. It wasn’t available digitally, so I had to request it from the library. Since I wanted to make notes on it, I had to make a photocopy. There I was, struggling with the copier—how do you get two pages on one sheet again? Not exactly efficient.

In the legal field, when we talk about Open Science, we’re mostly talking about open access. Legal scholars still publish a significant number of book chapters, and anything hidden away in a book—or behind a paywall—is read and cited far less. From an ethical perspective, legal knowledge shouldn’t be reserved for those who can afford it. Large commercial law firms often have subscriptions, but NGOs and legal aid lawyers usually do not. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that scientific knowledge and technologies should be available and accessible to the public.

I believe in that principle and work actively on this within our Faculty. At the same time, making everything immediately open access may sound appealing, but we need to stay realistic. Many legal journals rely on subscription models. These are tied to publishing deals, and if you remove that model overnight, you dismantle an entire ecosystem in which the (commercial) legal sector helps fund professional editorial support. Within the legal discipline, we are reasonably satisfied with the Taverne Amendment, which allows articles and book chapters to be made publicly available in institutional repositories after six months.

Open access in legal academia differs significantly from other disciplines. Broad, idealistic visions that ignore disciplinary nuances won’t get us very far

For us, that strikes a workable balance. Open access in legal academia differs significantly from other disciplines. Broad, idealistic visions that ignore disciplinary nuances won’t get us very far. Reality is much more complex. What we need is not more policy, but tangible action and practical support from people who understand the context.

There’s also the issue of dominant legal publishers and their proprietary search platforms. As an individual university, you have little leverage. That’s why a national working group has been set up, bringing together all university law faculties to develop a shared open access strategy, including towards these publishers.

These are the kinds of concrete steps we can and should take. Change is slow, but if we focus on what’s realistically achievable now, we can make meaningful progress—without losing ourselves in abstract future dreams about citizen science or open education. With current budget constraints, we simply can’t do everything.”

Jasper’s Open Science Tip

Many legal researchers don’t realise that they’re sometimes allowed to share a PDF of their publication on LinkedIn immediately after publication (for example, with the Nederlands Juristenblad). This boosts the visibility of your work and gives interested readers early access before the six-month embargo ends. Do you find it difficult to promote your research publicly, or does it feel like self-promotion? Consider discussing it with a communications colleague, or have it shared via the LinkedIn accounts of the research centres (OO&R or SteR).