Open Access: What is Open Access?

Open Access:

• is information that is:
  • Free to read
  • Unrestricted
  • Online

• is a movement that wants to increase information access and innovation.
• usually refers to open access publishing, particularly of scholarly communication in academia.
• a way to address the serials / scholarly communication crisis, which refers to the system where information is locked up in subscription journals and databases whose prices keep rising (as library and university budgets stagnate or decrease) and universities and libraries are forced to pay for the creation of the research as well as to buy it back through subscriptions.
• is about the democratization of information and knowledge.
• is carried out largely through open access journals, subject specific and institutional repositories, where research is posted online for anyone to access. These are indexed by Google and other search engines increasing visibility and impact of the research.

The advantages of open access are many:

• Greater visibility and impact of research
• Increased opportunity for collaboration
• Easier access to information for anyone
• Takes advantage of technology - text mining and the digital environment
• Better return on investment for research sponsors
• Encourages and enables greater innovation
• Faster than traditional publishing
• Contributes to education's mission of advancing knowledge

For more benefits of open access visit these links:

On February 22, 2013, the White House released a policy statement supporting open access to federally funded research output, including published scholarship and datasets.

On August 25, 2022, OSTP updated its policy, releasing Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research. 

Unless otherwise noted, all content on this guide is icensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.