Open Access: Key Resources

Repositories Support Project (RSP)

UK Repositories Support Project: Start section
This section of the Repositories Support Project (RSP) website provides in-depth advice on: how to implement a repository, pre-implementation planning, potential legal issues, and resources for sustainability. It provides an introduction to Open Access and sets in the context of repositories.

Open Access Scholarly Information Sourcebook (OASIS)

Briefing Paper: “What is open access?” [PDF]
A briefing paper defining open access and exploring the ways in which open access can be provided, as well as outlining the benefits for authors.

Institutional advantages from open access (OASIS)
An overview of the advantages of open access, aimed at Institutional Managers & Policy Makers, it clearly lists the key benefits including visibility, impact, an institutional “shop window” and assessment.

Briefing Paper: “What are institutional repositories?” [PDF]
A briefing paper looking at institutional repositories, examining their benefits for authors and their associated institution, their potential content, and their long-term sustainability.

OASIS Researchers section: FAQ
An FAQ page addressing common queries and concerns that academics may have about open access, institutional repositories and self archiving.

Reports from the Centre for Research Communications, Unversity of Nottingham

Briefing paper: “Open Access: Beyond the Numbers”
Short paper examining the merits of open access beyond the financial practicalities and implications. Instead this paper looks at the role open access can play in the creation and dissemination of research.

Briefing paper: “Open Access: In Support of Research” [PDF]
Briefing paper looking at the need for a sustainable business model for institutions to be able to support open access, and ‘best practice’ methods to ensure that such a model can be created.

Report: ‘Open access and institutional benefit’ [PDF]
A 2010 report to JISC outlining the institutional benefits of open access. Includes details of the financial costs associated with open access, and information on the role open access can play in the ‘impact’ of research, particularly in relation to future REF exercises.

Research Information Network (RIN)

RIN: An Introduction to Open Access
A guide for Researchers, Publishers, Librarians and Information on Open Access.

RIN: Publication ‘Heading for the open road: costs and benefits of transition in scholarly communications’
Report, published in April 2011, investigating the drivers, costs and benefits of potential ways to increase access to scholarly journals. It identifies five different routes for achieving that end over the next five years, and compares and evaluates the benefits, as well as the costs and risks for the UK.

Universities UK

Policy Briefing: Publishing research results: the challenges of open access (2007)
This policy briefing frames Open Access in a research context and as a vehicle for the dissemination of research outcomes. It provides briefings on key areas of Open Access including the different Open Access models, maintaining the quality of research, copyright, the set-up of institutional repositories and the impact of Open Access on learned and professional societies.

Enabling Open Scholarship (EOS)

Enabling Open Scholarship (EOS)
EOS is an organisation for universities and research institutions worldwide whose aim is to further enable scholarship and research through the open scholarship movement including Open Access. Membership is open to senior institutional managers. The site includes a range of briefing papers as well as overviews of Open Access and repositories.

Funders and Policies

Research Council’s UK Position Statements on Open Access
The Research Councils are committed to the guiding principles that publicly funded research must be made available to the public and remain accessible for future generations. The position statements for the individual councils are listed here. In May 2011 HEFCE and RCUK announced they would work together in support “greater open access to published research“.

Video: Open Access at the Wellcome Trust
A short video from Mark Walport introducing Open Access at the Wellcome Trust with a link to the Wellcome’s groundbreaking Open Access policy

Other Sources

SPARC Open Access Newsletter (by Peter Suber)
Peter Suber’s SPARC Open Access Newsletter provides trenchant and valuable comment on Open Access developments.

Open Access Tracking Project
The OATP uses social media tagging (via Connotea) to track and disseminate development in Open Access via wide range of feeds including RSS, Twitter and e-mail.

BioMed Central: Open Access Now – (Mis) Leading Open Access Myths
A list of common open access myths and misconceptions compiled by the open publisher BioMed Central, following evidence presented to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Inquiry into Scientific Publications.

Open Access Overview by Peter Suber
A document providing brief information on a wide variety of open access topics, but the key focus is on access to peer reviewed research.

Swan, A. (2010) The Open Access citation advantage: Studies and results to date. Technical Report, School of Electronics & Computer Science, University of Southampton
This paper presents a summary of reported studies on the Open Access citation advantage. There is a brief introduction to the main issues involved in carrying out such studies, both methodological and interpretive. The study listing provides some details of the coverage, methodological approach and main conclusions of each study.

UK PubMed Central
Over two million full text open access research Open Access articles and the subject based repository supported by Wellcome Trust and other UK PMC funders.

Open Access Videos

Videos: OAIG: the case for open access
A series of short videos making the case for open access and repositories along with links to key papers and reports demonstrating evidence of the benefits of open access.

Voices for Open Access [via YouTube and Vimeo]
A short series of videos by PLoS and SPARC for Open Access Week 2008. The series “defines Open Access as a fundamental component of a new system for exchanging scholarly research results, where: health is transformed; research outputs are maximized to their fullest extent; efficiencies in the research process enable faster discoveries; the best science is made possible; young people are inspired; access transcends the wealth of the institution; cost savings are realized across the research process; and medical research conducted for the public good is made available to everyone who needs it.” [SPARC Press Release]