We engage and invest in research in order to accelerate the pace
of scienti
c discovery, encourage innovation, enrich education,
and stimulate the economy — to improve the public good.
Communication o
the results o research an essential component
o
the research process; research can only advance by sharing
the results, and the value of an investment in research is only
maximized through wide use of its results.
Yet, too o
en, because of cost barriers or use restrictions, research
results are not available to the full community of potential
users. The Internet gives us the opportunity to bring this crucial
information to a worldwide audience at virtually no marginal
cost, and allows us to use it in new, innovative ways. This has
resulted in a call for a new framework to allow research results to
be more easily accessed and used — the call for Open Access.
Over the past decade, Open Access h
become central to
advancing the interests o
researchers, scholars, students, business ,
and the public —
well librarians. Increasingly, institutions
that support research — from public and private research funders
to higher education institutions — are implementing policies
that require researchers to make articles that report on research
generated from their funding openly accessible to and fully
useable by the public.
Open Access is the
free, immediate, online
availability of research
articles, coupled with
the rights to use these
articl fully in the digital
environment.
81,780 articles in 2012
were published in Open Access journals [1]
9,745 Open Access journals
A comprehensive list of Open Access journals
is provided by the Directory of Open Access
Journals (DOAJ) [1].
252,418 articles
were published in Open Access Journals
during 2000–2012 [1].
2,500 repositories
are available for authors to digitally deposit
their work [3]. A comprehensive list of these
is available through the Directory of Open
Access Repositories (OpenDOAR).
the Scholarly Publishing & Academic
Resources Coalition
21 Dupont Circle NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036
tel: +1 202 296 2296
email: [email protected]
web: www.sparcopen.org
Number of articles published with CC BY licenses 2000–2012 [1]
SPARC considers the terms outlined by the Creative Commons
Attribution-Only license (CC-BY) to be the standard terms for
Open Access. Four primary mechanisms can be used to enable
Open Access:
Authors can choose to publish their
research articles in a growing number of journals that meet
the full denition of Open Access. Articles are free to all
interested readers, and the publisher places no nancial or
copyright barriers between the readers and the article. Open
Access publishing is the fastest growing segment of the scholarly
publishing market, and journal options are now available for
nearly every area of research.
Authors can choose to deposit their research
articles in digital archives (oen called Digital Repositories or
Institutional Repositories) which conform to the standards of
the Open Archives Initiative (OAI), and enable readers to freely
access and fully reuse the article text. This allows any author
to make their work available under Open Access conditions
regardless of the journal out the article is published in.
As the author of a research
paper, you have the ability to ensure that your article can be
accessed and used by the widest possible audience. Tools such
as Addenda to traditional Copyright Transfer Forms are readily
available, proven resources that can help you understand open
licenses and publish your articles under full Open Access
conditions.
Institutions that support research, from public and private
research funders to higher education institutions, can
implement eective policies that that support making Open
Access to scholarly research articles the default mode for their
researchers.
Engage your campus
community on the topic of Open Access.
In conversations with faculty and students,
explain how Open Access can raise the
visibility and impact of their of research.
Encourage authors to publish their work in
Open Access journal, and to place their work
your campus institutional repository.
Choose Open Access
outlets to publish your own work whenever
possible.
During
International Open Access Week or any
other time of year, events help identify and
educate colleagues, identify champions on
campus and dispel common misconceptions
More
than 300 institutions around the world
now have institutional open access policies.
SPARC has resources to help you build a
successful on-campus campaign and can
connect you with colleagues who have passed
policies themselves through the Coalition of
Open Access Policy Institutions (COAPI).
The
library community and SPARC have led
the charge in working with policymakers to
ensure that the results of publicly funded
research are made freely available. Use
SPARC’s legislative advocacy platform
to contact your elected representatives in
Congress and in your state.
[1] Growth in use of the CC-BY license. Open Access Scholarly Publishers Assocaition.
http://oaspa.org/growth-in-use-of-the-cc-by-license-2/
[2] Directory of Open Access Journals. http://www.doaj.org
[3] Directory of Open Access Repositories. http://www.opendoar.org
