DOI: https://doi.org/10.59350/px8vr-7an49
The Public Knowledge Project (PKP) is thrilled to announce that Sikt (the Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research) has thrown its support behind PKP.
Recognizing both our global impact and the strong uptake of PKP software in Norway, six institutions have recently become PKP Members through the financial contribution pathway:
- Nord University
- Oslo Metropolitan University
- UiT The Arctic University of Norway
- University of Inland Norway
- University of Oslo
- University of Stavanger
The story behind these institutions’ choosing to invest in PKP is one that will feel familiar to our community. It involves both individual and collective engagement, from driven, values-aligned information professionals who see firsthand the impact PKP is having in their local publishing ecosystems.
After reaching out to PKP with a request to bring a PKP Sprint to Norway in 2025, Aysa Ekanger (Senior Advisor in Research and Publishing Support at the library of UiT The Arctic University of Norway), was motivated to introduce PKP representatives to the Norwegian librarian colleagues who rely on PKP software as part of their publishing services. During those conversations, it was suggested that PKP reach out to Sikt to establish contact and explore membership. Without this introduction and advocacy, we would not be announcing this important milestone today.
“I would like to emphasize the role of the community in this development – the Norwegian network of publishing services, who have been sharing ideas and experiences with each other for a number of years. I hope that the consortial support to PKP through Sikt not only contributes to PKP’s sustainability but also brings more attention from the involved institutions to the development of their publishing services. And a big thank you to PKP for continuing their important work both in the development of the publishing software and in the engagement of the community.” – Aysa Ekanger, Senior Advisor in Research and Publishing Support at the library of UiT The Arctic University of Norway
It is also important to acknowledge that the University of Stavanger has been a longstanding PKP Member and financial contributor since 2021, with John David Didriksen, Senior Librarian, and Rune Nilssen, Team Leader for IT and Library Systems, participating in numerous PKP sprints across Europe.
As of 2024 Beacon data, there are 71 active journals in Norway using Open Journal Systems (OJS), a clear reflection of PKP’s growing footprint and relevance within the Norwegian scholarly publishing landscape.
Representatives of the Norwegian publishing services have attended a number of PKP events in the last twenty years, and have also put in an effort to highlight PKP activities to the Nordic-Baltic information specialist community (see, e.g., the following papers published in Nordic Perspectives on Open Science):
- Some highlights from the PKP 2019 International Scholarly Publishing Conference
- Two novices’ impressions from the PKP Sprint in Helsinki, 15th – 16th of June 2022
- Experiences and Reflections: the PKP Sprint and CRAFT-OA Tech Event in Turin 2024
We are deeply grateful to Sikt, Norwegian libraries, and the information professionals who continue to advocate for PKP. We see this as just the beginning of a stronger, more robust, and mutually enriching relationship with our Norwegian user community.
