Open Access means unrestricted online access to peer-reviewed scholarly research. Open access is primarily intended for scholarly journals, but is also provided for a growing number of theses, book chapters, and monographs. Open Access is the publication of research and scholarly work being shared for FREE. Open Access publications are available to be downloaded, shared, printed or copied free of charge and most licensing and copyright restrictions.
There are two types of Open Access that are specified as Gold & Green. Gold Open Access is when an author publishes their work in an Open Access journal. Whereas Green Open Access is when authors deposit their scholarly articles and research into an Open Access repository. Either way, the authors allow their work to be viewed for free. This is important because faculty and scholars give their work away for free to publishers who then charge students and researchers to view it. Open Access breaks down that barrier by giving research and scholarly articles freely to anyone, anywhere.
What do faculty think about Open Access?
In light of the progressing adoptions of Open Access by colleges and universities faculty have been sharing their opinions. A study done by librarians from Miami University Oxford campus collaborated qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the faculty’s attitudes and opinions toward Open Access. The opinions were designated into three groups by the librarians, “evangelists, pragmatists, and traditionalists,” and based off this information future ambitions concerning the Open Access policy, programs and services are discussed. The study shows that faculty have varying opinions on the topic, though resolutions to concerns have been decided by institutions such as the case at Pacific University Oregon.
In this article, faculty of the University of Pittsburgh discuss Elsevier, and faculty members share their opinion and knowledge about Open Access. An article by The Herald Sun discusses a number of universities that have adopted Open Access and gives faculty members of UNC the floor to give their opinions. MIT libraries calculated the impact of that Open Access has had worldwide during the first three years after it was adopted. The article by MIT news highlights the impact that the faculty of MIT have had in sharing their research. Cornell faculty and scientists discuss their opinions in an article by the Cornell Daily Sun, mentioning the formation of a “committee responsible for investigating and implementing an open access policy ” and the author’s relationship with publishers. Faculty concerns were understood and evaluated by the Grand Valley State University Libraries in a study done to develop “Open Access Journal Quality Indicators” that address ethics in regards to Open Access.
“The Open Access Movement has fought valiantly to ensure that scientists do not sign their copyrights away but instead ensure their work is published on the Internet, under terms that allow anyone to access it.” – Aaron Swartz
Latest posts by Darren Chase (see all)
- Open Access Symposium 2018 - November 5, 2018
- OASIS, the OER Discovery Service - September 5, 2018
- Open Access Button - May 2, 2018
