Research4Life has helped reshape access to research in LMICs, providing institutions in more than 125 countries with free or low-cost access to high-quality academic and professional resources. By making essential research in health, agriculture, environment, law, and innovation available to universities, hospitals, and government bodies, Research4Life enables scholars, students, and policymakers in over 11,500 institutions to participate fully in the international research community and to apply evidence-based knowledge in support of local and global progress.
However, ensuring that this wealth of knowledge remains available for future generations requires more than access. It requires preservation. Without secure archiving, valuable research can be lost when publishers cease operation or are unable to maintain their platforms or when natural or technical disasters strike. CLOCKSS was established to meet this need, operating as a not-for-profit digital archive to protect scholarly content. Working with a global community of libraries and publishers, CLOCKSS safeguards published research, ensuring the contributions of researchers remain permanently available.
Today, CLOCKSS preserves more than 60 million articles and books from 650 publishers worldwide, including content originating in LMICs. CLOCKSS is now extending its preservation service to the Research4Life Connector countries, with work already underway in the initial selected countries. The process begins by identifying aligned local publishers from these locations and collaborating with them to ensure the long-term preservation of their publications. The Country Connectors play a vital role in this effort by acting as regional representatives, facilitating communication between local publishers, research institutions, and the broader Research4Life network. They help identify regional publishing partners, support capacity building, and promote awareness about the importance of preservation and access.
Through this new partnership, Research4Life and CLOCKSS are linking access with preservation to support equity in research. Research4Life helps reduce barriers to information access for institutions in LMICs, while CLOCKSS secures published research from these countries as part of the permanent scholarly record. Together, we enable researchers to access international literature and ensure that authors’ work remains visible, accessible, and preserved for the long term. This collaborative approach, involving the Country Connectors, strengthens local research ecosystems and promotes sustainable access to vital scholarly content across regions.
Rather than being merely complementary, the two initiatives reinforce one another. The result is a sustainable and equitable system in which global scholarly content is available now and secured for the future.
Read the full press release here .