As Open Access continues to reshape the landscape of scholarly publishing, the scholarly community is facing a brutal reality check. New inequities have emerged challenging the movement’s original goal of universal and equitable access to knowledge, shaping a system, where access and participation remain restricted for many. Institutions, library consortia, funders and publishers play a crucial role in shaping the future of Open Access—but how equitable are the models they support?This workshop directly addresses these challenges by providing an equity check: a structured, interactive space for participants to unpack different dimensions of equity in scholarly communications. Using the How Equitable Is It? framework as a guiding tool, participants will examine key dimensions of equity, from access to pricing transparency and open research practices to re-use rights and what they mean for different actors in the ecosystem.

The workshop will follow the Sandwich method, beginning with a warm-up brainstorming, where participants generate key terms defining an equitable publishing ecosystem. A brief presentation of the framework will set the stage for small-group discussions, where participants will focus on three criteria of their choice from the framework. Participants will be engaged in a role-play exercise, representing one of the actors: funders, librarians, institutional leaders and publishers. Each group will analyze challenges within their chosen equity criteria, and reflect on their institutional roles in fostering a more equitable ecosystem. Findings will then be shared in a group synthesis, where participants will identify gaps in the framework, propose refinements, and outline concrete actions to promote equity in their funding and investment strategies.

The workshop is primarily targeted for institutions, libraries, and funders. By the end of this session, participants will leave with deeper insights into inequities in scholarly communications models and a clearer vision of how they can drive meaningful change within their organizations.