RLUK26 | PROVOCATION - Is there an open access future for longform scholarship?

RLUK26 Conference | Stewardship in challenging times: the role of libraries in supporting civic society https://www.rluk.ac.uk/ https://rlukconference.com/ This provocation is intended to spark critical reflection on the future of open access for longform scholarship. Drawing on findings from two reports published in 2025 - one for UKRI, ALPSP, the British Academy, and OASPA on OA longform publishing and the second for the British Academy on the sharing of longform content through UKHEI institutional repositories. We explore: (1) the strategy and funding vacuum for longform OA; (2) the cultural resistance among SHAPE scholars to green OA for longform outputs; (3) the practical and ethical limits of repository-based access; and (4) the urgent need for a coherent, cross-stakeholder national strategy. Alicia Wise, Managing Director, Information Power Dave Jago, Scholarly Communications Consultant, Freelance Professor Geoffrey Khan, Regius Professor of Hebrew, University of Cambridge Rosie Higman, Open Research Services Manager, London School of Economics and Political Science