In 2018 the Publishing Studies program at Simon Fraser University began working with MIT Press/Knowledge Futures Group to conduct an inventory and landscape analysis of all available open-source software in the scholarly publishing space, with the intention of producing a report that would inform adoption, investment, and decision-making around open publishing infrastructure. The proliferation of open-source platforms and projects in recent years suggests that an 'ecosystem' is emerging around and between these systems, including those that may evolve along competitive lines and those that will resolve into a service ‘stack’ of complementary technologies. Our
report on this landscape analysis, released in summer 2019, catalogues more than fifty active open-source projects, spanning book, journal, and multimedia publishing, and representing a wide variety of perspectives and strategic approaches. Arising from this analysis are a number of interesting questions about sustainability, collaboration and integration, funding models, and the health of this 'ecosystem' in the large.
This session will present the findings of the analysis and provide an opportunity for discussion and reflection on the state of the ecosystem and directions for future development and coordination.
