---
layout: page
title: About
subtitle: We're building a platform to help researchers organise collective action in support of open and reproducible research practices
---

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### Why is this project needed?
Academia is trapped in a [collective action problem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_action_problem): individual researchers are incentivised to act in ways that hold back progress and hurt the research community's best interests (e.g., publishing in legacy journals and prioritising novelty over reliability). Any one individual could take a stand against this pressure, of course, but by doing so they would most likely be placing their career at risk. Fears like these have held back progress in academia to the point where today, decades after the internet was developed, we continue to communicate and evaluate research using print-based journal models and fail to use the internet to its fullest advantage (e.g., sharing data and code developed for the 18th century printing press.

### How could we fix this problem?
Imagine if every researcher in the world decided that from tomorrow, we would only publish in and review for community-based, no-fee ('platinum') open access scholarly communication systems. Overnight, we could boost the perceived reputation of those systems, alongside a commensurate decrease in the reputation of any journals that refused to adapt, allowing us to escape the 'prestige trap' that keeps us locked into legacy systems and reclaim control of scholarly communication. In turn, we could open our research to the world, drastically decrease costs, and begin to evolve scholarly communication and evaluation in line with our needs and the principles of science itself. This strategy is known as [collective action](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_action#:~:text=Collective%20action%20refers%20to%20action,and%20achieve%20a%20common%20objective.) and has been proven time and time again as an effective solution to collective action problems around the world. Clearly, the case described above is an extreme example, but should at least serve to demonstrate the latent power that researchers hold, if only we can begin to organise effectively.

### What are we doing?
We at Project Free Our Knowledge are building the world's first collective action platform for researchers. Using our website, researchers can make anonymous pledges to support certain progressive (e.g., open science) behaviours *if and when a critical mass of support for that behaviour is met in the community*. Then -- after the pre-determined number of pledges is reached -- we will publicize everyone who has pledged on our website and direct them to carry out the action together, thus protecting each other’s interests as they drive progress together.

### What is our vision for the future?
In the early days, we expect our campaigns to target simple actions (e.g., uploading some data), asking tens or hundreds of researchers to gently nudge their field in the directions they want to follow. In the future, however, we expect to build on those campaigns that have proven popular to host ever-larger and bolder campaigns that seek widespread systemic change (e.g., asking thousands or tens of thousands of researchers to permanently change their publishing practices, or demand change from their institutions). By probing the academic system from multiple directions at once, across multiple fields at once, we hope to tap into the latent desires of different research communities and, through collective action, empower disenfranchised researchers around the world to create positive change in academia.

### How can you help?
First and foremost, make a pledge! And obviously, tell your friends and colleagues. It would also be great if you could follow us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/projectFOK) and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/projectFOK), share our posts and sign up to our [mailing list](http://eepurl.com/dFVBVz). Beyond that, there are plenty other ways to get involved with the project -- check out our [Join Us] page to find out how.

### Who are we?
Project Free Our Knowledge is a grassroots movement driven by early career researchers who want a fairer and more secure future for ourselves, our friends and our colleagues. At present, the project is driven by:

* [Cooper Smout](https://www.coopersmout.com/) (Primary lead)
* [Dawn Liu Holford](https://www.essex.ac.uk/people/liuda52701/dawn-holford)

With support from:

* Jay Patel
* Megan Campbell
* Kelly Garner
* Claire Bradley
* Udi Alter
* Gavin Taylor

And advised by:

* Luis Pedro Coelho
* Lillian Juma
* Alex Holcombe
* Brian Nosek

### Partner organisations
The following organisations have kindly offered to help increase our reach using their networks: