Publisher’s Picks: Open Access Week 2022  - F1000

Publisher’s Picks: Open Access Week 2022 

By Zoe Brooke

International Open Access Week brings communities together to make openness the default for research and to ensure that equity is at the center of this work. At F1000, we believe that innovation and openness are essential to putting research into the hands of those that will shape the future. Therefore, we make research findings rapidly accessible so that knowledge can be used and reused with real-world impact. 

This year’s Open Access Week theme is ‘Open For Climate Justice’. This is to acknowledge that the climate crisis has far-reaching effects. Open access to the research focused on this topic leads to more equitable knowledge sharing.  

In honor of this event, a few of our expert colleagues at F1000 have recommended 10 open access articles which help confront or tackle the climate crisis across geographic, economic and disciplinary boundaries. Browse through this collection below: 

  1. System dynamic modelling of electricity planning and climate change in West Africa 

This Research Article demonstrated the use of system dynamic modelling to aid in resource planning in an inexpensive way to examine low carbon pathway. This was achieved without the cost of controlled trials. 

Recommended by Hannah Wilson, Senior Associate Publisher, and is published on Open Research Africa. 

  1. Climate change mitigation in food systems: the environmental and health impacts of shifting towards sustainable diets, a systematic review protocol 

This Study Protocol has synthesized the evidence of both empirical and modelling studies assessing the direct health outcomes (such as all-cause mortality and body mass index) as well as environmental impacts (greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use etc.) of shifts towards sustainable diets.  

Recommended by Sheridan Willis, Senior Associate Publisher, and is published on Wellcome Open Research.  

  1. Crossover comparison of climate-change adaptation measures taken in the Gdansk (Baltic-sea) and Rotterdam (Nord-sea) deltas. 

This Research Article compares approaches to flooding in two delta areas in the northern part of Europe, Gdansk and Rotterdam, demonstrating the value of exchanging knowledge and experience in combatting climate change and developing resilience. 

Recommended by Ruth Fisher, Content Acquisition Editor, and is published on Open Research Europe. 

  1. Physical activity promotion in the age of climate change 

This Opinion Article provides a first overview of interconnections between physical activity promotion and climate action, potential synergies and discrepancies, aiming to stimulate further discussion about this topic. 

Recommended by Callum Scott, Content Acquisition Editor, and is published on F1000Research. 

  1. Towards an off-grid fecal sludge treatment unit: demonstrating energy positive thermal treatment 

This Research Article demonstrated that there is an excess of energy available and there are reliable mechanisms to generate electrical energy using fecal sludge treatment units. 

Recommended by Hannah Wilson, Senior Associate Publisher, and is published on Gates Open Research. 

  1. Reconnecting with nature: Developing urban spaces in the age of climate change 

This Opinion Article tells the narrative of how urbanization has been disconnecting humans from nature. It explores how the resilience of urban spaces can be increased through the integration of nature-based solutions, the re-greening of neighborhoods and by correctly attributing value to natural capital.  

Recommended by Rebecca Hinsley, Assistant Editor, and is published on Emerald Open Research. 

  1. Building a database for energy sufficiency policies 

In this Brief Report, the authors present almost 300 policy instruments clustered into relevant categories and publish them as an “Energy Sufficiency Policy Database”. This paper provides a description of the data clustering, the set-up of the database and an analysis of the policy instruments, providing a starting point for further research on sufficiency and climate change mitigation policies. 

Recommended by Jack Brook, Associate Publisher, and is published on F1000Research. 

  1. A protocol for an observational cohort study of heat strain and its effect on fetal wellbeing in pregnant farmers in The Gambia 

This Study Protocol describes a study to assess the physiological response of pregnant women to environmental heat stress and the immediate effect this has on fetal wellbeing. This is particularly needed as climate change predictions indicate that global temperatures are likely to exceed those seen in the last 200,000 years, rising by around 4°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100.  

Recommended by Sheridan Willis, Senior Associate Publisher, and is published on Wellcome Open Research.  

  1. Functional genomic approaches to improve crop plant heat stress tolerance 

This Review discusses the potential of various functional genomic approaches, such as genome wide association studies, microarray, and suppression subtractive hybridization, in the process of discovering novel genes related to heat stress, and their functional validation using both reverse and forward genetic approaches. This review also discusses how these functionally validated genes can be used to improve heat stress tolerance through plant breeding, transgenics and genome editing approaches. 

Recommended by Gearóid Ó Faoleán, Publisher, and is published on F1000Research. 

  1. Assessing the economic impact of climate change in the small-scale aquaculture industry of Ghana, West Africa 

Based on the findings, this Research Article concludes that; floods, rainfall temperature, and drought are the major climatic factors affecting the profitability and sustainability of the pond aquaculture industry. The preliminary recommendation is that there is an urgent need to map out flood-free zones close to perennial water bodies to overcome floods and droughts.   

Recommended by Hannah Wilson, Senior Associate Publisher, and is published on Open Research Africa. 

We’ve also recently updated the Climate Gateway on F1000Research, available here: https://f1000research.com/climateaction. This was recommended by Guillaume Wright, one of our Publishers at F1000. 

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