An Introduction to

Open Access

Laura Wilson

Framingham State University

October 19, 2010

What is Open Access Literature?

Literature that is “digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.”

Why is Open Access important?◦“OA removes price barriers

(subscriptions, licensing fees, pay-per-view fees) and permission barriers (most copyright and licensing restrictions)”

- Peter Suber, independent policy strategist for open access to research http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/hometoc.htm

Why is Open Access Important?Subscription costs to scholarly

journals continue to rise every year, even despite the recession◦The average increase in the cost of

journal subscription prices for academic libraries is 7% - 11% -- PER YEAR Costs vary by discipline

Cost Increase for Subscription Journals in Academic Libraries

Examples (2004 – 2008):

Subject Percentage Increase

Biology 55%

Chemistry 34%

Health Sciences 49%

http://www.arl.org/sparc/students/decline.shtml

2008 JOURNAL SUBSCRIPTION PRICES, provided by SPARC member libraries:

$21,582 Journal of Comparative Neurology$16,860 Journal of Applied Polymer Science$15,589 Biochimica et biophysica acta$10,118 European Journal of Pharmacology$9,545 Gene$8,921 Water, Air, and Soil Pollution$8,919 Methods in Enzymology$8,844 International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering$8,073 Journal of Geophysical Research$7,902 Experimental Brain Research$7,712 Biopolymers$7,665 Oncogene$7,587 Journal of Chemical Physics$6,163 Biotechnology & Bioengineering

http://www.arl.org/sparc/students/journalprices.shtml

Cost Increase for Subscription Journals in Academic Libraries

While the cost of journal subscriptions has risen, budgets for academic libraries have not increased at the same rate◦ Often, budgets have not increased at

all◦Lack of funds and increased journal

prices have forced libraries to stop subscribing to some journals Sometimes these are core journals for

certain disciplines

Why Are Journal Prices Increasing?Many journals are now published by

large commercial publishers◦These commercial publishers are taking

over titles from independent, non-profit publishers

Commercial publishers “routinely operate with profit margins on their Science, Technology and Medical (STM) journal portfolios of between 30% and 40% annually”

http://www.arl.org/sparc/students/history.shtml

Remember!In the academic environment, scholars must

often “publish or perish”◦ In order to gain promotion or tenure, or to receive

grants, scholars MUST publish in scholarly journals◦ When scholars publish their research, they often

must sign over copyright for the article to the journal’s publisher

Authors of articles in commercially published journals are NOT PAID by the publisher for their article or research

Scholars who peer-review and edit for a commercially published journal are also unpaid

Remember!Students and tax-payers pay the

salaries of the professors and researchers who perform the research, write the articles, and conduct the peer-review and editing of the articles

Tax-payers and students must turn around and buy back from the publishing companies the research that has already been paid for!

The Role of Open Access“Digital, online, free of charge, and free of

most copyright and licensing restrictions.”

Access research articles without barriers or fees

Many open access journals are peer-reviewed◦Scholars donate their time to edit and referee,

just as they do for the commercially published journals

The Cost of Open Access Journals

Open access literature still has costs associated with it◦Manuscript preparation, peer-review (when

applicable) and online server spaceOpen Access journals are often funded

by a subsidy from a university or professional society

Open Access journals may charge a processing fee to an article’s author or employer ◦Fees are often waived for economic hardship

May include advertisements

Open Access Archives or Repositories

An open access archive or repository stores content (articles, etc.) and makes this content freely available to the public◦No peer-review

Archives often belong to institutions such as universities and laboratories

Author’s may archive preprints without anyone’s permission◦Many journals allow authors to archive their

postprints

How Librarians Can Promote Open Access

Create an open-access institutional eprint archive for both text and digital data

Help faculty deposit their research into the institutional archive

Publish research in an open access journal

Consider cancelling high priced journals that cannot explain their high costs, and issue a public statement that explains why

Help with digitization, access and preservation projects for the university and local groups

Join SPARC, a consortium of academic libraries that actively promote OA http://arl.org/sparc

How Faculty Can Promote Open Access

Submit your research articles to open access journals in your field

Deposit your pre-prints and post-prints in an open-access archive or repository http://www.openarchives.org

Referee or edit an open access journal

Serve on your university’s committee to evaluate faculty for promotion or tenure◦ Do not penalize faculty for publishing in open access

journals

Educate others about open access

For More Information:Open Access LibGuide (Subject Guide):

◦Offers videos, links and more information about open access

◦Compiled by Millie Gonzalez, FSU Librarian

http://libguides.framingham.edu/open_access

Directory of Open Access Journals◦Discover free, full-text open access journals

in your field

http://www.doaj.org/

Works Cited and For More Information:

SPARC: The Right to Research http://www.arl.org/sparc/students/

SPARC: History of Declining Access http://www.arl.org/sparc/students/history.shtml

What Librarians Can Do to Promote Open Access http://api.ning.com/files/UA39w6-9AnX6TD8q6-Pf9cH6gZXFwhTXSvYW8y4EBYQcoLUvsEm1vY5tjaniVLDe*9dzHBvL9fXwVs0HZ6VE-l6awtjyhhG-/Librarians

What Faculty Can Do To Promote Open Access

http://api.ning.com/files/zRFidZuXNPSiyVKVhJ40gWQuHZd4smwjFm0elVHTZDvWXKbY*8mAMPvwwaIAY6eC2kfO6hRxKs3kb7Ncf6FeB*VaQIOqbD-/Faculty

Thank You!Please take this very brief, 4 question

survey about this presentation:http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NBCC9RN Questions or Comments

◦Laura Wilson, Reference Librarian 508-626-4654 lwilson2@framingham.edu

If you would like to suggest a topic for a future LibLearn session, please contact the Reference Department◦508-626-4654◦ reference@framingham.edu