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.µ y Why is Open Access important?
y

´OA removes price barriers (subscriptions, licensing fees, pay-per-view fees) and permission barriers (most copyright and licensing restrictions)µ
- Peter Suber, independent policy strategist for open access to research http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/hometoc.htm

Why is Open Access Important?
y

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
x Costs vary by discipline

Cost Increase for Subscription Journals in Academic Libraries
y

Examples (2004 ² 2008):
Subject Biology Chemistry Health Sciences Percentage Increase 55% 34% 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
y

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
x Sometimes these are core journals for certain disciplines

Why Are Journal Prices Increasing?
y

Many journals are now published by large commercial publishers
These commercial publishers are taking over titles from independent, non-profit publishers

y

Commercial publishers ´routinely operate with profit margins on their Science, Technology and Medical (STM) journal portfolios of between 30% and 40% annuallyµ
x http://www.arl.org/sparc/students/history.shtml

Remember!
y

In the academic environment, scholars must often ´publish or perishµ
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 y Scholars who peer-review and edit for a commercially published journal are also unpaid
y

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

The Role of Open Access
y

´Digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.µ Access research articles without barriers or fees Many open access journals are peerreviewed
Scholars donate their time to edit and referee, just as they do for the commercially published journals

y

y

The Cost of Open Access Journals
y

Open access literature still has costs associated with it
Manuscript preparation, peer-review (when applicable) and online server space

Open Access journals are often funded by a subsidy from a university or professional society y Open Access journals may charge a processing fee to an article·s author or employer
y

Fees are often waived for economic hardship
y

May include advertisements

Open Access Archives or Repositories
y

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 y Author·s may archive preprints without anyone·s permission
y

Many journals allow authors to archive their postprints

How Librarians Can Promote Open Access
y

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

y y y

y

y

How Faculty Can Promote Open Access
y

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

y

y y

y

Educate others about open access

For More Information:
y

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
y

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/ y SPARC: History of Declining Access
y
y

http://www.arl.org/sparc/students/history.shtml What Librarians Can Do to Promote Open Access http://api.ning.com/files/UA39w6-9AnX6TD8q6Pf9cH6gZXFwhTXSvYW8y4EBYQcoLUvsEm1vY5tjaniVLDe*9dzHBvL9fXwVs0HZ6VEl6awtjyhhG-/Librarians

y

What Faculty Can Do To Promote Open Access

http://api.ning.com/files/zRFidZuXNPSiyVKVhJ40gWQuHZd4smwjFm0elVHTZDvWXKbY*8m AMPvwwaIAY6eC2kfO6hRxKs3kb7Ncf6FeB*VaQIOqbD-/Faculty

Thank You!
Please take this very brief, 4 question survey about this presentation: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NBCC9RN y Questions or Comments
y

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

y

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