Open Data Governance Risk: Inaccessible DOI Landing Pages in Some Commercial Repositories

[Pogrebnoj-Alexandroff]

I would like to raise a concern relevant to open data governance, transparency, and the long-term reliability of publicly accessible research outputs.

There are increasing cases where commercial repositories restrict access to previously open scientific works, including materials with assigned DOIs. Authors may lose access to their own publications, while the DOI continues to resolve to an empty, inaccessible, or paywalled landing page.

This situation creates a systemic risk for the open data ecosystem:

• Publicly funded research outputs effectively disappear from public access.
• DOI persistence becomes unreliable when landing pages no longer provide access.
• Transparency and reproducibility are compromised.
• Independent researchers are disproportionately affected.
• FAIR Accessibility and Reusability are violated.

Given OKFN’s mission to promote open knowledge, open data governance, and equitable access to information, I would like to suggest initiating a discussion on:

1. How open data governance frameworks should address cases where DOI-assigned materials become inaccessible.
2. Whether repository accountability guidelines should be strengthened to protect public access.
3. How open data infrastructures might detect or annotate cases where DOI endpoints no longer provide access.
4. Potential policy recommendations for preventing the disappearance of publicly accessible research outputs.

This issue is becoming increasingly common and represents a structural threat to open knowledge and the integrity of the open data ecosystem.

Thank you for considering this topic for discussion within the OKFN community.