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Open Access: Open Access

This guide explains what open access and open educational resources (OER) are, offers guidance on how to use them effectively, and connects students, faculty, and the community to free, reliable scholarly materials available without subscription barriers.

Acknowlegements

The Open Access guide was originally created by Camille Thomas at Texas Tech University and has been adapted for Mitchell Community College.

CC BY NC License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). Proper attribution is to the Open Access guide and Camille Thomas.

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What is Open Access?

Open access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. OA, as an option for wider dissemination of research, is entirely compatible with and insists on upholding standards of peer review, copyright, quality, prestige, and research impact.

 "Open Access Explained" by Piled Higher and Deeper (PHD Comics) (C) YouTube (2013), licensed under CC BY

Types of OA

Click on the tabs below to explore the different types of open access.

OA Information

Gratis OA is information that is available free of charge, while some copyright and licensing restrictions may still apply.

Libre OA is information that is free of charge and free of most copyright and licensing restriction.

While "free" implies that the information does not cost anything to access, open access publishing often involves a cost to the author to publish the work.

OA Publishing

  Green OA publishing refers to the self-archiving of published or pre-publication works for free public use. Authors provide access to pre-prints or post-prints (with publisher permission) in an institutional or disciplinary archive such as ThinkTech and arXiv.org.

  Gold OA publishing refers to works published in an open access journal and accessed via the journal or publisher's website. Examples of Gold OA include PLOS (Public Library of Science) and BioMed Central.

Benefits of OA

Open access benefits the academic researcher in the following ways:

  • Increases the visibility of the researcher's findings, making the work easier to disseminate, find, and read.
  • Makes it easier to manage the researcher's list of publications on personal and/or organizational webpages.
  • Provides the researcher a place to safely, securely, and permanently store scholarly works in multiple formats (PDF, Microsoft files, audiovisual files, etc.).
  • Provides an organized, single point of reference for the researcher's work that is accessible 24/7 and readable from any web-enabled device. Enables a simple web address that can be cited in subsequent works or easily referred to to other interested parties.
  • Makes materials previously only available in print easily accessible online.
  • Provides an indicator of the impact of the researcher's finding on the field of interest by identifying who is accessing/reading the work. Encourages impact related to the merit of the work, not the name of the journal in which it's published.
  • Offers new opportunities for publishing and interacting with works (virtual journals, commenting and feedback options, etc.).
  • Encourages other researchers to use OA publishing, making it easier to access the work of colleagues.
  • Makes it easier to keep abreast of the latest research findings.
  • For those working in a fast-moving field, OA enables quick and dated dissemination of the researcher's findings which could establish prior discovery.
  • Reduces the researcher's workload associated with managing their portfolio of scholarly works.
  • Improves the researcher's understanding of copyright, making them aware of their rights and how to maximize the return on their efforts.
  • Meets and manages the requirements of funding bodies with respect to disseminating the research outputs and ensures the researcher can confidently check the appropriate box on new funding applications.

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