We are very pleased to announce the recipients of the DOAJ Open Access Engagement Asia Award.
The DOAJ Open Access Engagement Asia Award aims to support initiatives that promote awareness of open access and DOAJ. The award also encourages better understanding of quality standards used by DOAJ. Through this initiative, selected institutions receive small awards to organise activities that promote open access and DOAJ within their academic communities. The Award was announced in May this year and we received significant interest.
The Award aims to:
- Increase awareness of open access publishing
- Increase awareness of DOAJ
- Promote responsible and ethical scholarly publishing practices
- Improve understanding of quality standards in open access publishing
To qualify, applicants needed to demonstrate strong institutional support and propose feasible, impactful activities that improve understanding of quality scholarly publishing standards. We are pleased to announce the selection of the successful applicants:
Mohan Raj Pradhan
Mohan Raj Pradhan is leading a team from HealthNet Nepal that will implement the awarded proposal. Mohan is Chairman of HealthNet Nepal and Secretary and Training Coordinator of VuFind Software (Nepal).
This award provides a valuable opportunity to turn open access advocacy into practical action in Nepal. Through the planned activities, our team will bring librarians, researchers and academic institutions together to strengthen understanding of DOAJ’s quality standards and promote responsible, visible and accessible scholarly communication.
Amaresh Mishra
Amaresh Mishra is an Assistant Professor and Research Funding Coordinator at Noida International University, India
I am deeply grateful to receive the DOAJ Open Access Engagement Asia Award 2026. As a researcher and research funding coordinator, I see this award as an opportunity to strengthen awareness of open access, responsible scholarly communication, and good publishing practices among researchers and students. I look forward to using this opportunity to encourage a more informed, transparent, and accessible research culture within our academic community.
Anita Bhattarai
Anita Bhattarai is leading a team to implement this award. Anita is currently a Library Officer at Tribhuvan University Central Library (TUCL), Nepal and President of the Tribhuvan University Library Science Students’ Alumni Association (TULSSAA).
Receiving this award is a great honour and a meaningful acknowledgment of my work to promote Open Access and responsible scholarly publishing. It encourages my institution, Tribhuvan University Central Library, and me to raise more awareness about DOAJ, research integrity, copyright, licensing, and Creative Commons. I believe that open and ethical access to knowledge can greatly contribute to a more inclusive and fair research community.
Md. Salman Sohel
Md. Salman Sohel is leading this award with team member Meherab Hossain. Md. Salman Sohel is an Assistant Professor and Head of the Department of Development Studies at Daffodil International University, Bangladesh
This award reinforces my commitment to advancing open, ethical, and inclusive scholarly communication. I look forward to using this opportunity to strengthen awareness of DOAJ, responsible publishing practices, and equitable access to research within academic communities in Bangladesh and across Asia.
Successful recipients will organise at least one local event, share training materials via the DOAJ Zenodo Community, and will publish a report or write a brief blog post, providing documentation such as photos from the activity. Reports on the completed activities are expected at the end of 2026.
Congratulations to all the recipients!
