Mikael Laakso
About me
I am an Associate Professor (tenure track) in Information Studies at Tampere University, Finland where I specialize in scholarly communication and open science. Since 2009 I have been researching the changing landscape towards openness in scholarly publishing by studying combinations of bibliometrics, web metrics, business models, science policy, and author behavior. I defended my PhD thesis on the subject of Open Access journal publishing in 2014 from Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland. Please see the publications section of my webpage if you are interested in the research I´ve been doing.
In addition to teaching, supervision, and research I see societal impact as very important part of my work, thus I frequently give public talks and am involved in various national and international groups. I have been involved in preparing reports for the European Commission, the European Research Council Executive Agency (ERCEA), Harvard Library Office of Scholarly Communication, the Ministry of Education and Culture in Finland, the Finnish Association of Scholarly Publishers, and the Nordic Publications Committee for Humanities and Social Science Periodicals (NOP-HS).
Regarding my current societal engagements I am a board member of the Finnish Association of Information Studies, a member of the steering group of the FinELib national library consortium, a member of the Ministry of Education and Culture appointed Advisory board for intellectual property and Committee for Public Information.
I am a member of the editorial board of Nordic Journal of Library and Information Studies, Tampere University Press and Nordic Perspectives on Open Science. I am also on the advisory board of EconStor and the blog Elephant in the Lab.
Latest publications
Factors influencing the adoption of open access to longform publications in regional and national contexts
Estelle, L., Greaser, N., Halevi, G., Jago, D., Wise, A. & Laakso, M., 31 Mar 2026, University of Leeds: Knowledge Equity Network.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
International Metadata Recommendations, and Platform-Specific Requirements for Open Access Books and Chapters
Steiner, T., Arias, J., Bennett, M., Booth, E., Edmunds, J., Gatti, R., Higman, R., Hillen, H., Laakso, M., Nason, M., O'Connell, B., Pogačnik, A., Rabar, U., Ramalho, A., Stone, G., van Gerven Oei, V. W. J. & Wake Hyde, Z., 2026, Thoth Open Metadata.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
Small European publishers and the transition to open access publishing: a 2025 snapshot
Exchange, K., Wise, A., Jago, D., Estelle, L., Laakso, M., Snijder, R., Barnes-Wise, T. & Halevi, G., 18 Feb 2026, Knowledge Exchange. (Zenodo)Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
Structured content analysis of open access book policies: European university and research funder approaches
Matthias, L., Bazeliuk, N. & Laakso, M., 26 Mar 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Science and Public Policy.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review
University journals in the global academic publishing landscape: Mapping over 19,000 diverse titles based on Ulrichsweb data
Nazarovets, M., Laakso, M. & Taşkın, Z., 7 Jan 2026, In: Scientometrics. 131, 1, p. 703-731 29 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review
Usage of higher education institutional repositories and “Green” open access for longform publications
Halevi, G., Jago, D., Estelle, L., Laakso, M., Wise, A. & Barnes-Wise, T., 31 Mar 2026, The British Academy.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
Breaking the Silence on Linguistic and Gender Bias in Scholarly Publishing: What Can Librarians Do?
Bowker, L., Laakso, M. & Pölönen, J., 4 Feb 2025, In: Information matters. 5, 2Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › Professional
D1.1 Scoping Report on Non-for-profit Publishing Ecosystems
Laakso, M. & Taskin, Z., 29 Dec 2025, European Union.Research output: Other contribution
Developing an Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) strategy for open scholarly publishing - Getting started guide
Bowker, L., Laakso, M. & Pölönen, J., 30 Jan 2025Research output: Other contribution
Editorial introduction
Ekanger, A., Laakso, M., Lembinen, L., Svendsen, M., Tautkevičienė, G. & Wenaas, L., 2025, In: Nordic perspectives on open science. 10Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › Scientific