Open Access Week 2016

Open Access Week 2016 is October 24-30. The global event to promote free, immediate, online access “as the new norm in scholarship and research” is now entering its tenth year. What is Open Access (OA)? What are its benefits to the worldwide academic and research community?

The theme this year is Open in Action: “taking concrete steps to open up research and scholarship and encouraging others to do the same.”

Learn more…

  • A very brief introduction to Open Access by Peter Suber, the de facto leader of the OA movement.
  • Read the latest guide: How Open Is It? a collaborative document from the Public Library of Science (PLoS), the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC®), and the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA).
  • See what publishers are members of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association.
  • BioMed Central asks students and young researchers: what do you know about open access?
  • Look at the OASIS website which aims to provide an authoritative ‘sourcebook’ on Open Access, covering the concept, principles, advantages, approaches and means to achieving it.
  • The Open Access Directory “is a compendium of simple factual lists about open access (OA) to science and scholarship, maintained by the OA community at large.”
  • Watch the video from PHD Comics “Open Access Explained!”

OA in the news…

  • Find the latest information from SPARC®, an international alliance of academic and research libraries working to correct imbalances in the scholarly publishing system. Check out their OA factsheet (pdf). Be even more informed by following their twitter feed.
  • See what’s happening around the world – search #OAWeek on twitter!
  • In September 2013, Congressmen Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) introduced the Public Access to Public Science (PAPS) Act. “This legislation would ensure public access to published materials concerning scientific research and development activities funded by federal science agencies.”
  • The objective of UNESCO’s Open Access Policy Guidelines is the promotion of open access in all of the UNESCO Member States.
  • The Open Library of Humanities, dedicated to publishing open access scholarship in the humanities “for free, for everyone, for ever” launched in September 2015.
  • The Wheaton Library supports the OA movement by participating in PLoS (Public Library of Science), BioMed Central, PubMed, and linking to thousands of open access journals.