Report on Open Access in Law (ROAL)

This study examines the implementation of Open Access in Swiss legal scholarship and the fac-tors facilitating or hindering its adoption from the perspectives of researchers, publishers, and legal practitioners.
Combining a quantitative publication analysis with stakeholder interviews, a literature review, and an assessment of publishers’ Open Access information, the study finds that Open Access is established in Swiss legal scholarship but varies considerably by publication type, publisher, and Open Access model. Around 30% of books are available in some form of Open Access. Research-ers particularly value Open Access for enhancing the accessibility and visibility of research and for ensuring that publicly funded research is publicly available. Key concerns include implemen-tation workload, quality assurance, funding, insufficient practical guidance, the future role of publishers, and commercial reuse of Open Access content. AI is seen as both an opportunity and a challenge.
Recommended measures include discipline-specific guidance, basic Open Access literacy in le-gal education, stronger Green Open Access and rights retention strategies, and targeted infor-mation for courts. More broadly, stakeholders should jointly address sustainable funding and publishing models and the implications of AI.