Open Access (OA) publishing continues to expand the visibility and impact of life science and biomedical research emerging from India. By enabling immediate and unrestricted access to scientific findings, OA articles are helping accelerate knowledge exchange globally and support wider societal application of research. This column highlights selected OA studies published by Taylor & Francis journals over the past few years, across plant biology, microbiology, environmental science, nanotechnology, and allied fields. Each featured article offers insights into scientific challenges with direct relevance to India and beyond.

In a new LinkedIn post, the CEO of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), Shivkumar Kalyanaraman, outlined how the foundation is evolving into India’s apex body for research, development, and innovation. Alongside strengthening core research grants, ANRF is preparing to operationalise ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund, designed to channel patient capital into deep-tech, high-impact projects.

In this article on the Santhal Pargana uplands, Kulesh Bhandari, an independent biodiversity researcher from Jharkhand, describes walking through mist-lit Sal forests, attentive to the landscape’s quiet rhythms. His journey across Kathi Kund, Barapaghar, Danro, and Sundar Pahari blends ecological mapping with tribal knowledge, revealing an increasingly fragile yet enduring relationship between communities and their living forests.

The recent move to publish all peer-reviewed manuscripts as “reviewed preprints” has sparked renewed discussion on transparency and trust in scientific publishing. In this article, Amrapali Datta discusses how open peer review challenges the traditional reliance on Impact Factor metrics and advocates for a culture of accountability, dialogue, and equitable access in science.

Maternal gut microbes may influence fetal brain development through metabolites. While human evidence remains limited, India’s fiber-rich diets and fermented foods may offer unique research opportunities to link maternal microbiomes with child neurodevelopment and explore culturally tailored dietary or probiotic interventions.