Strengthening global collaboration: Caroline Sutton’s annual visit to Japan highlights key advances in Open Access and scholarly communication 

Caroline Sutton’s annual visit to Japan in late October was, as always, a productive journey marked by a full agenda of strategic meetings, collaborations and community engagement. 

At-a-glance: a packed itinerary 

Caroline’s itinerary included high-level external meetings with key government bodies like the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), as well as the National Institute of Informatics (NII). Discussions also took place with Japan’s three major research funders—JSPS, JST, and AMED—as well as a prominent librarian from one of Japan’s largest universities and Igaku-Shoin, STM’s largest local publishing member. 

Additionally, an in-person meeting with 16 STM Chapter members was followed by a team dinner. Representatives from several STM publisher members in Japan accompanied Caroline as part of the STM delegation. 

Finalizing Japan’s national open access policy: key insights and implications 

The visit coincided with the finalization of Japan’s national open access (OA) policy, a significant milestone discussed during a joint meeting with the Cabinet Office and MEXT. 

What the policy entails: 

• Starting in 2025, research funded by JSPS Kakenhi grants, certain JST grants, and one AMED grant must be published open access. This can be achieved either via immediate gold or hybrid journal OA, or by depositing the manuscript in a repository. 

• If immediate OA isn’t feasible (e.g., due to embargo periods), authors must provide justification and make articles openly available as soon as possible. 

• Research data must also be made publicly accessible. 

Responsibilities and Implementation: 

• Authors and their institutions bear primary responsibility for compliance, with reporting coordinated by NII on behalf of the Cabinet Office. 

• A new consortium, OASE, has begun negotiations with major publishers to facilitate compliance for research-intensive universities. 

While the policy is expected to boost OA publication rates, longer-term challenges include duplicative efforts in institutional repositories and addressing Japanese-language outputs. Stakeholders hold varying opinions on the policy’s impact, particularly regarding potential compliance burdens for researchers and institutions. Notably, while no penalties or rewards are currently tied to compliance, the policy’s success will depend on sustained institutional and author engagement. 

Advancing scholarly communications: key events and engagements 

Caroline also participated in pivotal events during her visit: 

• JST/STM Annual Seminar
  Alongside Anders Karlsson (Elsevier) and Katsu Arai (Wiley), Caroline co-hosted the seventh annual JST/STM seminar, held virtually. Directed at societies and editors using JST’s J-STAGE platform, the seminar focused on Machine Readability in Scholarly Communications, featuring presentations from STM’s Geoff Bilder and Heather Staines, as well as two Japanese speakers. The event attracted ~140 attendees, underlining its importance in advancing publishing standards. 

• STM Trends at NISTEP Seminar
  Prior to her visit, Caroline presented the STM Trends Report at a virtual seminar hosted by NISTEP, a division of MEXT. This marked the first in a series of quarterly webinars co-organized by STM and NISTEP, reflecting a shared commitment to knowledge exchange and innovation. 

A yearly tradition of outreach and collaboration

Caroline’s annual visits to Japan continue to strengthen STM’s connections on a high level; fostering mutual respect and collaboration with government agencies, research funders, and the scholarly communications community. These visits also underscore STM’s support for a vibrant and participatory local chapter.  

At this year’s chapter meeting, Caroline expressed gratitude to outgoing Chair Anders Karlsson for his significant contributions (photographed, see right), and welcomed Katsu Arai (Wiley) as the new Chair, supported by Deputy Chair Tomoko Yamanojo-Childress (Taylor & Francis). This leadership transition ensures the chapter’s ongoing success and alignment with STM’s global mission. 

STM remains committed to supporting the Japanese research community in embracing innovation, openness, and excellence in scholarly communications.