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NISO's Draft Recommended Practice for Open Access Business Processes Now Open for Public Comment

NISO's Draft Recommended Practice for Open Access Business Processes Now Open for Public Comment

August 2025

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) is pleased to announce that the draft Open Access Business Processes (OABP) Recommended Practice (NISO RP-49-202X) is now available for public comment through October 17, 2025, at the project website, https://www.niso.org/standards-committees/oabp.

The number of open access (OA) publications has grown dramatically in recent years, but many systems and workflows were developed to support subscription models. In response to this challenge, NISO RP-49-202X outlines a standardized framework to support operational open access workflows across diverse publishing models. 

The draft introduces a shared glossary to eliminate confusion over terminology, clear metadata specifications to ensure information flows smoothly between systems, and guidance on reporting, financial tracking, and agreement management. Together, these elements will help stakeholders across the publishing ecosystem work together more effectively.

“Advances in human knowledge rely on an effective and global research system that connects the building blocks of research: people, organizations, and the things they do, use, and produce,” said Working Group Co-Chair Yvonne Campfens, Executive Director of OA Switchboard. “We are eager for potential adopters of the Recommended Practice from all stakeholder groups to read the text and provide feedback that will help us to improve it before it’s finalized and published.”

“By establishing standards for communication, reporting, and metadata, this Recommended Practice aims to make open access publishing workflows more transparent, scalable, and equitable for all stakeholders,” added Working Group Co-Chair Amanda Holmes, Senior Licensing Officer at Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN).

“With the evolving landscape of open access, it is essential to establish consistent and interoperable practices that enable efficient collaboration among all participants,” said Cristin Hipke, NISO Standards Program Manager. “We invite all community members to provide feedback to ensure the recommendation is both practical and widely adopted.”

The draft Recommended Practice is available for comment through October 17, 2025.