{"id":5139,"date":"2013-10-23T17:09:33","date_gmt":"2013-10-23T16:09:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/edtechandtesol.info\/phd\/?p=5139"},"modified":"2013-10-23T17:09:33","modified_gmt":"2013-10-23T16:09:33","slug":"open-access-some-facts-and-some-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lantern.humanities.manchester.ac.uk\/?p=5139","title":{"rendered":"Open Access: some facts and some thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"

This blog post has been prompted by\u00a0Open Access 2013<\/a>, which began on Monday (21st October) and will run until 27th October. What I aim to do in the paragraphs that follow is describe what Open Access publication is, discuss some salient advantages and concerns, and provide readers with resources which I have found useful. It is by no means an exhaustive treatise on Open Access, but I hope that it can function as a primer for those among us for whom this is a new concept.<\/p>\n

1. Simply put, Open Access publications are scholarly publications that are provided to readers free of charge. In the Open Access publication model, \u00a0publication costs are borne by the author(s), or by their sponsors, rather than the readers, as is the case in traditional publication. Open Access publications are peer-reviewed, ideally to the same standards of rigour as traditional publications (but more on that later). More information about Open Access publications can be found in this briefing document<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. From an author’s perspective, choosing an Open Access journal as an outlet for dissemination of their work will likely lead to increased visibility and impact. The Open Access publication model is also advantageous to users who do not have institutional access to paywall-protected research. Even in the case of large, affluent universities, there are mounting concerns that the traditional model of publication, which relies on institutions purchasing subscriptions to journals, is no longer sustainable<\/a>. A detailed listing of benefits of the Open Access model, along with supporting references, can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3. Several government agencies and other research funding bodies are gradually adopting Open Access policies. This means that researchers who receive public funding from these agencies undertake to make the findings available to the public through Open Access. Such policies have been implemented, or are being phased in, by the by the US federal government\u00a0(1<\/a>,\u00a02<\/a>), the Higher Education Funding Council for England<\/a>, \u00a0and the European Commission<\/a>, among others. By way of example, in the EU, research output produced with Horizon 2020 funding must be made accessible online no later than six months after initial publication (or 12 months for the social sciences and the humanities). By 2016, it is expected that\u00a060% of publicly -funded in Europe will be available under Open Access.<\/p>\n

4. There are two major variants of Open Access, Green<\/strong> and Gold<\/strong>:<\/p>\n