How academic publishing can help accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
In September 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was formally adopted, which included 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), each accompanied by a set of specific targets and indicator. As we stand at the midpoint of the journey to the 2030 deadline for attaining the SDGs, it is worthwhile to take a moment to see how academic publishing is supporting this pursuit and what more should be done.
Aligning academic publishing with the SDGs
Academic publishing acts as a bridge between research and the SDGs, transforming scholarly insights into actionable knowledge. Academic publishers can contribute to these Goals in several ways. Academic journals and conferences facilitate interdisciplinary discussions and collaborations on SDG-related topics and facilitate the exchange of ideas and experiences, thereby fueling innovation. Academic publications are repositories of rich data and evidence-based solutions, offering guidance on how to measure progress and adjust strategies to meet the SDGs effectively.
Status of SDG-related research and publications
Despite active research dissemination on topics like food security, health, water, urban development, climate change, and justice, global progress toward achieving key environmental SDGs related to climate action (SDG13), life below water (SDG14), and life on land (SDG15) has been limited. A study by UNESCO on 56 research topics pertinent to the SDGs found that sustainability research has not yet become a predominant focus in academic publishing worldwide.1 Research related to climate resilience and sustainable environmental management remains disproportionately low in terms of research volume.1 However, topics linked to industry, innovation, and infrastructure (SDG9) exhibited better performance. Several countries have substantially increased their research output on subjects like battery efficiency, smart grids, and sustainable transportation between 2011 and 2019. However, despite the emphasis on global energy transition, publications on sustainable energy (SDG7), such as cleaner fossil fuel technology and renewable energies, constituted only 2.4% of global scientific output from 2016 to 2019—a minor improvement from 2.1% over 2012–2015.
Another key finding was that sustainability research has largely responded to events instead of being proactive,1 e.g., research on emerging viruses typically increases in response to viral outbreaks. This points to the need for health research to become more preemptive.
Developing countries are showing a strong impetus in research related to sustainability topics. Many lower-income countries have registered a marked increase in their global share of publications on sustainability research. This is heartening, especially because many of these countries are particularly vulnerable to climate change.
One thing is certain: countries, regardless of their economic status, are united in transitioning towards digital and environmentally sustainable economies.1 Researchers and research publishers can contribute to this quest by pressing the pedal on disseminating innovative, cross-disciplinary studies and fostering global collaboration to speed up the development and adoption of sustainable technologies and practices.
SDG-related initiatives by publishers
The International Publishers Association (IPA) is a pioneer in prioritizing the SDGs in the publishing industry. The SDG Publishers Compact,2 adopted in October 2020 by the United Nations and the IPA, outlines ten specific actions for publishers. These are as follows:
- Pledging commitment to the SDGs by stating the relevant policies, targets, and adherence.
- Advocating content that supports SDG themes.
- Providing annual reports and sharing data on progress in aligning with the SDGs.
- Appointing a point of contact to facilitate SDG progress and coordinate SDG themes.
- Increasing awareness of SDG-related policies and encouraging projects that will accelerate the attainment of the SDGs.
- Raising awareness about the SDGs among suppliers and promoting collaboration.
- Actively communicating about the SDG agenda to target customers and stakeholders.
- Collaborating with other signatories and organizations across geographies to advance progress on the SDGs.
- Allocating funds towards SDG-dedicated projects and promoting SDG principles.
- Acting on at least one SDG and sharing progress annually.
Over 200 publishers and organizations worldwide have joined the Compact. Cross-industry collaborations and action groups,3 e.g., the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) SDG Publishers Compact Fellows and the STM SDG Academic Forum, will help formalize publishers’ commitments to the SDGs. Tools, ideas, and targets will be drawn up to uphold the objectives of the SDGs. Meanwhile, the publisher MDPI has launched an SDG Hub, which provides a selection of OA publications for each SDG; for three SDGs (5, 11, and 13), the APCs of feature papers are fully waived.
These positive steps should encourage more publishers to participate in SDG initiatives and share their experiences for others to rally behind.
Challenges and opportunities in aligning academic publishing with the SDGs
Access to research and freedom to choose a target journal for publication
Access barriers continue to stand in the way of open, visible, and impactful research at scale. Considerable research remains behind paywalls or is tangled in expensive journal package deals (“big deals”) that many institutions cannot afford. Many open access (OA) journals require authors or their institutions to pay high APCs, which is not feasible in low-income countries. These hindrances prevent crucial research from reaching a global audience. Publishers, funders, and institutions need to come up with sustainable solutions for Orly for research related to the SDGs. Researchers should have the freedom to choose the right venue for their research and other research and data.
Research also needs to transcend institutional access. Making research related to SDGs available to the public, not just researchers, is essential for generating awareness and mobilizing collective action and public engagement in addressing global sustainability challenges. A noteworthy initiative is the Climate Change Knowledge Cooperative, which summarizes leading peer-reviewed articles on climate research in plain language for the general public.
UNESCO’s Open Solutions4 encompasses OA to scientific content and Open Data and contributes to the achievement of SDG9. Unrestricted exchange of information and knowledge is the way forward for rising to global challenges.
Interdisciplinary collaboration
Specialized and discipline-specific investigations have led to key advances in various fields. But merging insights and methodologies from diverse disciplines enhances innovation and provides fresh perspectives. Interdisciplinary research is especially crucial in addressing contemporary global challenges and meeting SDGs. However, integrating divergent methodologies and terminologies from multiple disciplines can be challenging. Second, interdisciplinary collaborations often require significant time and resources, making them less practical for urgent or resource-constrained situations. Steps to reduce these constraints to expand collaborative and interdisciplinary research networks are warranted. A growing number of interdisciplinary, multi-disciplinary, and transdisciplinary journals are paving the way for increased collaborative research.
Emphasis on SDG-aligned research
Nations should push harder to boost research around the key SDGs. Universities and research institutions can play a major role in transforming the Goals into tangible realities by 2030. Research institutions and publishers can offer incentives to encourage research in these directions. Researchers may be encouraged to identify which of the 17 SDGs are most relevant for their research by using the official SDG website, SDG Tracker, or SDG Index and Dashboards. At an individual level, researchers can follow certain best practices to achieve sustainable goals in their research setting.
Policy recommendations, institutional changes, and author and researcher guidelines need to be streamlined to encourage research and publication aligning with the SDGs.
Looking ahead
Sustainability research is not yet mainstream in academic publishing. However, smaller and developing nations are making noteworthy inroads, especially in areas crucial for their own sustainability and climate resilience. Academic publishers are in a position to build research communication ecosystems that can speed up the fulfilment of the SDGs. For instance, alignment of the Compact’s efforts with existing sustainability initiatives can usher in a more robust and widespread commitment in this direction. As the deadline for achieving the SDGs by 2030 approaches, collective action among scholarly publishers toward sustainability, along with robust measurement of their impacts, is needed.
References
1. Straza, T., and Schneegans, S. Are we using science for smarter development? In UNESCO Science Report: the Race Against Time for Smarter Development. Schneegans, S.; Straza, T. and J. Lewis (eds). 2021. UNESCO Publishing: Paris.
2. SDG Publishers Compact. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-publishers-compact/
3. Irfanullah, H. SDG Publishers Compact: where do we stand now? The Scholarly Kitchen. 2022. https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2022/07/28/sdg-publishers-compact-where-do-we-stand-now/
4. Open Solutions. UNESCO. https://www.unesco.org/en/open-solutions
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