Open Access as a Pathway to Global Impact: Professor Marie Lall’s Story

At ChangeSchool, we believe education should be accessible, transformative, and inclusive. It should cross borders, challenge inequalities, and empower individuals and communities. This belief is reflected in the work of Professor Marie Lall, Chair of Education and South Asian Studies at the UCL Institute of Education and Academic Director at ChangeSchool.

Her recent book, Myanmar’s Education Reforms: A Pathway to Social Justice? examines the role of education in a country undergoing significant political upheaval. However, how she chose to publish it - open access - ensures her research reaches the people and places it was written for.

Why Open Access?

For Professor Lall, the decision to publish open access was strategic and ethical. “Myanmar has had a coup. Nobody can go to a bookshop, nor do they think to spend money on a book, but they will click on a link and read it,” she explains.

She published her book with UCL Press, a leading open-access publisher, making it freely available to download worldwide. By July 2024, the book had been downloaded 37,724 times across 173 countries, including 2,793 downloads in Myanmar alone. These figures highlight the reach and relevance of open-access publishing, particularly in settings where access to physical resources is disrupted or constrained.

This approach aligns with international best practices and global declarations, including the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge (2003), which calls for removing financial, legal and technical barriers to scholarly communication. Open access also supports principles outlined in the Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002) and Bethesda Statement (2003), which have collectively defined the open access movement.

In academic terms, Professor Lall’s model would be considered Gold Open Access, where a peer-reviewed book version is immediately available online with full user rights. This ensures legal reuse, unrestricted visibility, and long-term digital archiving, key principles of sustainable knowledge sharing.

Watch her share the story behind her book and the power of open access in a short video produced for UKRI here: https://youtu.be/FSRSZDq1m6c?si=R5jcjWPR75pZCWx9

Grounding Research in Context

Myanmar has faced systemic challenges in education delivery. According to the Ministry of Education’s 2016–21 National Education Strategic Plan (NESP), the system needed major reform to support inclusive, equitable learning, particularly in ethnic states. Lall’s book speaks directly to these goals, exploring issues such as teacher training, decentralisation, and the politicisation of curriculum.

Following the February 2021 military coup, many of these reforms stalled. Schools were closed, education budgets redirected, and educators arrested or displaced. Physical access to books and academic resources became nearly impossible in this environment. Digital, open-access formats offered a rare lifeline.

Connecting Research to Policy and People

Prof. Lall’s research is rooted in fieldwork and dialogue with communities, especially in ethnic regions where conflict and cultural complexity have shaped educational opportunities. She sees open access as vital for ensuring her work is not extractive:

“These people cannot buy the book or get hold of it, and there’s no way I could send them copies. Open access takes that problem away.”

This approach supports ChangeSchool’s ethos of inclusion and psychological safety, ensuring research participants can see, engage with, and benefit from its outcomes.

Her work has also informed international education programmes funded by the British Council and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), particularly those focused on policy reform and inclusive development in Myanmar and neighbouring countries.

Tackling Global Inequities in Access to Knowledge

Over 80% of the world’s population lives in low- or middle-income countries (World Bank, 2023). Yet access to academic materials remains disproportionately skewed towards wealthier nations. Traditional publishing models often price out the very people most affected by the issues being studied.

Open access helps redress that imbalance. Removing paywalls ensures that educators, students, and policymakers in the Global South can engage with current research. As Lall puts it, “Knowledge should be accessible to everyone.”

The Broader Benefits of Open Access

Open-access publishing benefits more than just the individual author or reader. It delivers long-term value across the education ecosystem:

• For students and educators: OA levels the playing field—enabling equal access to research regardless of geography or institutional affiliation.

• For universities: OA increases the visibility of institutional research, supports recruitment, and showcases innovation on a global stage.

• For governments and funders: OA ensures a greater return on investment by making publicly funded research publicly available, fostering transparency and innovation.

• For libraries: OA reduces the burden of escalating journal subscription costs and enables closer collaboration with researchers on visibility and impact.

Professor Lall’s case exemplifies how these benefits play out in practice, especially in fragile contexts where traditional knowledge channels are inaccessible or non-existent.

Supporting the Next Generation of Scholars

Lall is also a strong advocate for mentoring early-career academics. She regularly co-authors open-access work with junior colleagues and encourages them to choose publishing routes that maximise visibility and impact:

“Do yourself a long-term favour, try to make your research read.”

This reflects a broader movement in higher education to rethink what success looks like, shifting from exclusive, paywalled publications to inclusive, widely read work that informs policy and practice.

A Call to Share with Purpose

Professor Lall’s story is more than an example of effective publishing. It’s a reminder that research has little impact if it remains behind a paywall or locked in an academic library. Her choice to publish open access brought her work to tens of thousands of readers, including those living the realities she writes about.

If we want knowledge to improve lives, support development, and spark innovation, we must also change how it’s shared. Open access isn’t just a format—it’s a mindset. One that prioritises reach, relevance, and responsibility.

For researchers, institutions, and policymakers, the challenge is clear: remove barriers to access, prioritise inclusivity, and think globally. Because research that isn’t read isn’t used, and research that isn’t used can’t lead to change.

Interested in hearing directly from Professor Lall? Please get in touch with us at info@changeschool.org