M4K Pharma was incorporated to launch an open science drug discovery program that relies on regulatory exclusivity as its primary intellectual property and commercial asset, in lieu of patents. In many cases and in key markets, using regulatory exclusivity can provide equivalent commercial protection to patents, while also being compatible with open science. The model is proving attractive to government, foundation and individual funders, who collectively have different expectations for returns on investment compared with biotech, pharmaceutical companies, or venture capital investors.In the absence of these investor-driven requirements for returns, it should be possible to commercialize therapeutics at affordable prices. M4K is piloting this open science business model in a rare paediatric brain tumour, but there is no reason it should not be more widely applicable.

In 2018, there has been a drop in the number of fully OA journals published by Elsevier, from 416 to 328 journals. The majority of Elsevier’s fully OA journals are still non-charging.

DNA tests can have a placebo effect.

Preservation is an imperative for our community, yet the Digital Preservation Network is disbanding. What lessons can we learn from its struggle?

ALLEA welcomes the ambition of the coalition of European research funders to move the scientific publishing system towards open access; however, broader consultation with all parties is required during the implementation phase.

Run by queer and transgender scientists, a new program aims to help high school students of similar identities see a future for themselves in science.

In 2019, innovation funding will be increasingly randomised.

This year taught us more about distant planets and our own world, about the ways we're influencing our environment and the ways we're changing ourselves.

A year ago, we launched the ORCID Reducing Burden and Improving Transparency (ORBIT) project. Find out how far we've come since then in this post by ORCID staff Josh Brown and Tom Demeranville, who are leading the project.