Repository Accountability and FAIR Accessibility: Loss of Access to DOI-Assigned Works in Commercial Platforms

[Pogrebnoj-Alexandroff]

I would like to raise a concern relevant to repository interoperability and the long-term sustainability of open access.

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 or inaccessible landing page.

This situation creates a structural risk for the global repository ecosystem:

• FAIR Accessibility and Reusability are violated.
• Repository accountability becomes unclear when content disappears.
• Interoperability frameworks cannot rely on DOI endpoints that no longer provide access.
• Independent researchers are disproportionately affected.
• The trustworthiness of open access repositories is weakened.

Given COAR’s role in defining best practices for repositories and promoting sustainable open access, I would like to suggest initiating a discussion on:

1. Guidelines for repository accountability when DOI-assigned materials become inaccessible.
2. Mechanisms for protecting authors when repositories restrict access to their own works.
3. Recommendations for handling cases where DOI landing pages become empty or non-functional.
4. Potential alignment with FAIR and global interoperability standards.

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