Open access is a movement to ensure that research published by academics is made freely available to viewers by having a publication hosted either in an Open Access Journal or in an Institutional Repository.
Scholarly Open Access Journals follow the traditional publishing submission model of using double blind peer review - but they differ in that they ensure that articles will be open to viewing by everyone. Open Access Journals are known as the Gold Standard of Open Access Publishing and many are in very High Impact Journals revereed by scholars.
Institutional Repositories are sites set up for Scholars to submit digital publications to. These publications can be anything from accepted journal articles to Course Material, Graduate Thesis, Research Data, Learning Objects, Peer Reviewed Conference Proceeding or Grey Literature. All submissions to Institutional Repositories are made Openly Available for anyone to read and use - as per the Creative Commons License chosen by contributors to a repository, although there may be slight delay in their viewing if required as a condition of publishing. Repository submissions are know as the Green Standard of Open Access Publishing.
Money
One reason Open Access began was in reaction to increasing costs for Science,Technology and Medical (STM) Journals which were increasing at the rate of 10% per year. STM publishers had captured the market and were insisting that researchers surrender copyright in return for being published. With control of copyright, they had every incentive to raise prices as they realized the profit. Open access strives to provide good publishing without institutions having to buy back their work at inflationary prices.
Impact Factors
Contrary to initial claims that Open Access Publications would never be percieved as prestigious, Impact Factors are proving otherwise. There has been a great deal of research using citation analysis and it is demonstrating that articles in Open Access Publications are cited more frequently; thereby enabling scholars to demonstrate that their research is having a greater impact than those in traditional publications.
No Messy Restrictions Related to the Usage of a Publication
Everyone following the Access copyright debate knows that surrendering copyright leads to restrictions in the usage of content that goes beyond not being able to read it. There are also:
Whether you are talking about ensuring taxpayers do not have to pay twice for the research they fund - or are interested in assisting researchers in Developing Countries and the Third World - Knowledge Liberation ensures that people can access and understand work occuring in Institutions of Higher Education. This:
Open Access Publications are not as Scholarly as Traditional Journals
This is incorrect. In fact, the Directory of Open Access Journals lists almost 16,000 Digital Open Access Journals who utlilize the Peer Review Model in a new medium: the Digital Open Access Journal.
That Researchers who Contribute to Open Access Journals are Less Likely to Recieve Recognition for their Work than Scholars who Publish in Traditional Publications
This is also incorrect. In fact, Impact Factors indicate that scholars who publish articles in Open Access Publications are cited more often (i.e. have a Higher Impact Factors) than those in traditional publications that are commercial. Part of this may be that the traditional publishers have priced themselves out of the market but equally important is the fact that scholarship was not sacrificed as Peer Review remained in place in the open digital publications.
Publishers will Never Allow Academics to Archive their Submissions in Institutional Repositories
This is a falacy. With requirements that publicly funded research be made openly available, most publishers have policies and procedures around open access. Consult Sherpa Romeo to learn all about the OA policies of most publishers.
Beyond this, organizations such as SPARC and CARL have created Publishing Addendums that scholars can add to thier contracts with publishers (See Retaining Copyright with Publisher Addendums section in the Open Access and Your Research Section of this Libguide). These addendums add a clause to publishing contracts guaranteeing scholars the right to self-archive their publications in institutional repositories.
Faculty will Resist Having Their Content Made Freely Available
This was a falacy that many tried to put over on the publishing world early in the Open Access Movement. Time and again it has been demonstrated to be wrong as researchers are more interested in whether their publication is in a high impact journal and recieving recognition, as true renumeration comes in the form of increased salary if ones work leads to promotion.
1. Contribute a copy of your research to the Institutional Repository at Brandon University (IRBU).
2. Publish your research in Open Access Journals or via Publishers - like Sage - with whom the University has a Read and Publish Agreement that waives Article Processing Charges that allow researchers to publish their article as an Open Access Article.
3. Support the Adoption of Open Access Policies and Mandates at Brandon University. Many universities have enacted policies that require scholars to deposit journal articles to their institutional repositories. These policies can be adopted at the departmental, faculty or institutional levels. Examples of such policies can be found via:
Journal of Rural and Community Development
Established by members of the Rural Development Institute at Brandon University, it is currently overseen by Doug Ramses (Journal Editor) of RDI.
Institutional Repository at Brandon University (IRBU)
IRBU houses a collection of institutional publications, journal articles, thesis, etc.
Canadian Journal of Native Studies
While not totally Open Access, CJNS provides people with free access to back issues of its publications.
Digital collection of the entire Fabian Tracts made available by the S. J. McKee Archives at Brandon University.
BU Journal of Graduate Studies in Education
Open Access journal provided by education graduate students.
Collection of historical images for the City of Brandon and Brandon University and growing number of digitized collections.
Digited Collection of Historical Newspapers in Manitoba including for the Brandon Sun. This initiative is funded by the Manitoba Library Consortium Inc, of which the John E. Robbins Library is an active member.
ANimated Tutorial Sharing Project and LION TV
Historical Collection of Instructional Videos created by Librarians across North America and coordinated by one member of the John E. Robbins Library at Brandon University.