List of open letters by academics

! style="width:15%;" |Name

! style="width:5%;" |Year

! style="width:15%;" |Signatures

! style="width:10%;" |Scope / topic

! style="width:35%;" class=unsortable |Demands

! style="width:10%;" |Organized by

! style="width:5%;" |Demand achieved

! style="width:5%;" |Criticized

|2023

|{{Sort|42|42 academics}}

|Global

|All editors at NeuroImage and NeuroImage: Reports resigned because they oppose the large fee ($3450) that the journal owner, publishing giant Elsevier, charges authors to make their scientific papers open access (OA). As Elsevier refused to reduce the fee, they launch a new OA journal Imaging Neuroscience hosted by the non-profit publisher MIT Press.{{cite news |title=News at a glance: A new malaria vaccine, a Parkinson's test, and editors resign |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/news-glance-new-malaria-vaccine-parkinson-s-test-and-editors-resign |access-date=20 May 2023 |work=Science |language=en}} They commit to make the new journal replace their abandoned one as "the top journal in [their] field" and hope they demonstrate "the way forward in non-profit publishing".{{cite web |title=Elsevier: NeuroImage transition - all editors have resigned over the high publication fee, and are starting a new non-profit journal, Imaging Neuroscience |url=https://imaging-neuroscience.org/Announcement.pdf |access-date=20 May 2023}}

|(Group action of full editors-team)

|{{Yes|{{tooltip|DA|Direct action solved or addresses the problem without demands being met}}}}

|{{No}}

|2023

|{{Sort|1000|>1,000 incl. prominent figures in software & tech and risk researchers}}

|Global

|"AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4" due to "profound risks to society and humanity".{{Cite web |title=Pause Giant AI Experiments: An Open Letter |url=https://futureoflife.org/open-letter/pause-giant-ai-experiments/ |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=Future of Life Institute |language=en-US}}

|Future of Life Institute

|

|{{Sort|Yes2|{{yes|{{tooltip|Yes|(extensively)}}}}}}{{Cite news |last=Paul |first=Kari |date=2023-04-01 |title=Letter signed by Elon Musk demanding AI research pause sparks controversy |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/31/ai-research-pause-elon-musk-chatgpt |access-date=2023-05-16 |issn=0261-3077|quote=Among the research cited was "On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots", a well-known paper co-authored by Margaret Mitchell, who previously oversaw ethical AI research at Google. Mitchell, now chief ethical scientist at AI firm Hugging Face, criticised the letter, telling Reuters it was unclear what counted as "more powerful than GPT4".
"By treating a lot of questionable ideas as a given, the letter asserts a set of priorities and a narrative on AI that benefits the supporters of FLI," she said. "Ignoring active harms right now is a privilege that some of us don't have."}}{{Cite web |date=2023-03-30 |title=Musk's AI letter is a 'hot mess' of hype, say critics |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230330-musk-s-ai-letter-is-a-hot-mess-of-hype-say-critics |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=France 24 |language=en|quote=But Timnit Gebru, whose academic paper was cited to support that claim, wrote on Twitter on Thursday that her article actually warns against making such inflated claims about AI.
"They basically say the opposite of what we say and cite our paper," she wrote.
Her co-author Emily Bender said the letter was a "hot mess" and was "just dripping with AI hype".}}{{Cite web |last=Goswami |first=Rohan |date=2023-04-14 |title=OpenAI CEO Sam Altman addresses letter from Musk and other tech leaders calling for A.I. pause |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/14/openai-ceo-altman-addresses-letter-from-musk-wozniak-calling-for-ai-pause.html |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=CNBC |language=en}}{{cite news |title=News at a glance: Benin Bronze's source, a supermassive black hole, and Aboriginal knowledge |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/news-glance-benin-bronze-s-source-supermassive-black-hole-and-aboriginal-knowledge |access-date=18 May 2023 |work=www.science.org |language=en}}

|2023

|{{Sort|x|Many open source software organizations incl. OSI and TDF}}

|European Union / {{tooltip|Global|Free software is global}}

|Changes to the proposed Cyber Resilience Act due to "unnecessary economic and technological risk to the EU" and improving engagement with the under-represented open source software community as "more than 70% of the software in Europe [open source/FOSS] is about to be regulated without an in-depth consultation" and potential chilling effects of OSS development.

|The Eclipse Foundation

|

|

|2023

|{{Sort|110|>110 academics}}

|Global

|Acceleration of research on "atmospheric aerosols and their potential to increase the reflection of sunlight from the atmosphere to address climate risk".

|

|

|{{yes}}

|2022

|{{Sort|380|>380 academics}}

|Global

|"[I]mmediate political action from governments, the United Nations, and other actors to prevent the normalization of solar geoengineering as a climate policy option".

|16 scholars{{Cite web |title=Signatories |url=https://www.solargeoeng.org/non-use-agreement/signatories/ |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=Solar Geoengineering Non-Use Agreement |language=en-US}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|2022

|{{Sort|800|>800 incl. Nobel laureates & IPCC authors}}

|Global

|Universities should stop accepting funding from fossil fuel companies to conduct climate research.

|Fossil Free Research{{cite web |title=Fossil Free Research |url=https://fossilfreeresearch.org/ |access-date=16 May 2023 |website=Fossil Free Research |language=en}}

|{{no}}

|

|2022

|{{Sort|200 Nobel|>200 Nobel laureates}}

|Russia, Ukraine

|Independence of the Ukrainian people and freedom of the Ukrainian state (in face of the 2022 Russian invasion of the country).

|Roald Hoffmann, Richard J. Roberts

|{{no}}

|

|2022

|{{Sort|8000|>8,000 academics and science journalists of Russia}}

|Russia, Ukraine

|Condemnation of the war against Ukraine with "responsibility for unleashing a new war in Europe [lying] entirely with Russia".{{cite web |title=Открытое письмо российских ученых и научных журналистов против войны с Украиной |url=https://www.t-invariant.org/2022/02/we-are-against-war/ |website=Т-инвариант / T-invariant |access-date=16 May 2023 |language=ru-RU |date=24 February 2022}}

|

|NA

|

|2022

|{{Sort|500|>500 academics (moral and political philosophy)}}

|Global

|"Insofar as it involves unnecessary violence and harm, [they] declare that animal exploitation is unjust and morally indefensible".

|

|{{tooltip|NA|unspecified demands, proposals or goals}}

|{{yes}}

|2022

|{{Sort|1000|>1,000 incl. many academics}}

|Global

|Four steps towards a nuclear-weapon-free world to take by the Tenth Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2022.

|NoFirstUse Global

|

|

|2022

|{{Sort|100|>100 academics}}

|Malta

|Passage of abortion law changes Bill No. 28 of 2022 as is.

|

|

|

|2022

|{{Sort|275|275 academics}}

|USA / Global

|Halting recent moves towards increasing fossil fuel production and instead take bold action to rapidly reduce fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure by President Biden.

|Scientists Bob Howarth, Mark Jacobson, Michael Mann, Sandra Steingraber, and Peter Kalmus

|{{no}}

|

|2021

|{{Sort|1500|>1,500 academics incl. 5 senior/lead IPCC authors}}

|USA / Global

|"President Joe Biden and his administration to commit to reducing U.S. heat-trapping emissions by at least 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030".

|Union of Concerned Scientists

|

|

|2021

|{{Sort|100|>100 academics}}

|USA / Global

|Removal of logging and fossil fuel provisions from reconciliation and infrastructure bills by President Biden and members of Congress.{{cite web |title=Open Letter to President Biden and Members of Congress from Scientists: It is essential to Remove Climate-Harming Logging and Fossil Fuel Provisions from Reconciliation and Infrastructure Bills |url=https://johnmuirproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ScientistLetterOpposingLoggingProvisionsInBBB_BIF4Nov21.pdf |access-date=17 May 2023}}

|

|

|

|2021

|{{Sort|700|~700 scientists and engineers incl. 21 Nobel laureates}}

|USA / Global

|President Biden to "use his forthcoming declaration of a new national strategy for managing nuclear weapons as a chance to cut the U.S. arsenal by a third, and to declare, for the first time, that the United States would never be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict".

|

|

|

|2021

|{{Sort|330|>330 academics}}

|USA / Global

|

• "Completely stop federally authorized fossil fuel expansion{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Damian Carrington Matthew |title=Revealed: the 'carbon bombs' set to trigger catastrophic climate breakdown |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2022/may/11/fossil-fuel-carbon-bombs-climate-breakdown-oil-gas |access-date=17 May 2023 |work=the Guardian |date=6 June 2022 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Bearak |first1=Max |title=It's Not Just Willow: Oil and Gas Projects Are Back in a Big Way |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/06/climate/oil-gas-drilling-investment-worldwide-willow.html |access-date=17 May 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=6 April 2023}}
• Declare a climate emergency
• Abandon industry delay{{cite journal |last1=Lamb |first1=William F. |last2=Mattioli |first2=Giulio |last3=Levi |first3=Sebastian |last4=Roberts |first4=J. Timmons |last5=Capstick |first5=Stuart |last6=Creutzig |first6=Felix |last7=Minx |first7=Jan C. |last8=Müller-Hansen |first8=Finn |last9=Culhane |first9=Trevor |last10=Steinberger |first10=Julia K. |title=Discourses of climate delay |journal=Global Sustainability |date=2020 |volume=3 |pages=e17 |doi=10.1017/sus.2020.13 |s2cid=222245720 |language=en |issn=2059-4798|doi-access=free }} tactics"

|Biologist Dr. Sandra Steingraber, climate scientist Dr. Peter Kalmus, advocacy groups Center for Biological Diversity and Food & Water Watch

|

|

|2021

|{{Sort|400|>400 academics}}

|Global

|End of the criminalization of non-violent civil disobedience from direct action climate activist groups.

|Oscar Berglund, others

|

|

|2021

|{{Sort|100|>100 academics (international intellectual property)}}

|Global

|A "temporary TRIPS waiver – as proposed by India and South Africa and supported by more than 100 countries – [as a] necessary and proportionate legal measure towards the clearing of existing intellectual property barriers to scaling up of production of COVID-19 health technologies in a direct, consistent and effective fashion".

|

|{{no}}

|

|2021

|{{Sort|296|296 academics}}{{Cite journal |last1=Sumaila |first1=U. Rashid |last2=Skerritt |first2=Daniel J. |last3=Schuhbauer |first3=Anna |last4=Villasante |first4=Sebastian |last5=Cisneros-Montemayor |first5=Andrés M. |last6=Sinan |first6=Hussain |last7=Burnside |first7=Duncan |last8=Abdallah |first8=Patrízia Raggi |last9=Abe |first9=Keita |last10=Addo |first10=Kwasi A. |last11=Adelsheim |first11=Julia |last12=Adewumi |first12=Ibukun J. |last13=Adeyemo |first13=Olanike K. |last14=Adger |first14=Neil |last15=Adotey |first15=Joshua |date=2021-10-29 |title=WTO must ban harmful fisheries subsidies |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm1680 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=374 |issue=6567 |pages=544 |doi=10.1126/science.abm1680 |pmid=34709891 |s2cid=240153044 |issn=0036-8075|hdl=11585/836841 |hdl-access=free }}

|Global

|WTO to eliminate increasing harmful fisheries subsidies.

|

|

|

|2020

|{{Sort|239|>239 academics}}{{Cite journal |last1=Morawska |first1=Lidia |last2=Milton |first2=Donald K |date=2020-07-06 |title=It Is Time to Address Airborne Transmission of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) |journal=Clinical Infectious Diseases |volume=71 |issue=9 |language=en |pages=2311–2313 |doi=10.1093/cid/ciaa939 |issn=1058-4838 |pmc=7454469 |pmid=32628269}}

|Global

|WHO, medical community and relevant national and other international bodies to "recognize the potential for airborne spread" of COVID-19 by around the time of the letter.

|Lidia Morawska, Donald K Milton

|{{No}}

|

|2020

|{{Sort|100|>100 academics}}

|Philippine

|End to President Rodrigo Duterte's "bloody war on drugs" and the creation of a Truth Commission.

|

|{{no}}

|

|2020

|{{Sort|153|153; mostly scholars and writers}}

|Global

|Condemnation of cancel culture and liberal intolerance and defending free speech, making an argument that hostility to free speech was becoming widespread on what could be described as "the political left" as well.

|Thomas Chatterton Williams, Robert Worth, George Packer, David Greenberg, Mark Lilla

|NA

|{{Sort|Yes2|{{yes|{{tooltip|Yes|(extensively)}}}}}}{{cite news |last1=Yang |first1=Jeff |title=The problem with 'the letter' |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/10/opinions/the-letter-harpers-cancel-culture-open-debate-yang/index.html |accessdate=8 September 2020 |work=CNN}}{{cite news |last1=Schuessler |first1=Jennifer |title=An Open Letter on Free Expression Draws a Counterblast |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/10/arts/open-letter-debate.html |accessdate=July 12, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=July 10, 2020}}

|2020

|{{Sort|258|258 mostly academics}}

|Global

|Engagement with the risk of disruption and even collapse of societies due to climate change by policymakers.

|Gesa Weyhenmeyer, Will Steffen

|{{tooltip|NA|unspecified demands, proposals or goals}}

|

|2019

|{{Sort|250|>250 academics at Australian universities}}

|Global

|Declaration of support for Extinction Rebellion and sufficient change of Australian government's inaction on the climate crisis. It is based on {{tooltip|a 2018 open letter|"Act now to prevent an environmental catastrophe" which appears to not have received any media attention.}}.

|

|{{tooltip|NA|unspecified demands, proposals or goals}}

|

|2019

|{{Sort|224|224 academics}}

|Global

|Declaration of support for School Strikes for Climate.

|

|{{tooltip|NA|unspecified demands, proposals or goals}}

|

|2018

|{{Sort|238|238 academics}}

|Global

|"Plan[ning]" for a post-growth future in which human and ecological wellbeing is prioritised over GDP by the European Union and its member states.

|Wellbeing Economy Alliance and others

|{{tooltip|NA|unspecified demands, proposals or goals}}

|

|2016

|{{Sort|800|>800 academics (Earth science and energy)}}

|USA / Global

|Six steps of immediate and sustained action to take by Donald Trump against human-caused climate change.

|

|{{no}}

|