Open Access and Academics

Open Access and Academic Authors: the advantages and disadvantages of publishing freely available content

What is Open Access?

‘By “Open Access” to [academic] literature, we mean its free availability on the public interest, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose without financial, legal or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself’

Source: http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read

Still a little lost? Watch the video on the next slide!

Source: http://justpublics365.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2014/10/20/introducing-open-access-series/

Publishers like Elsevier profit more than Walmart, Apple, and Disney in the US. It calls into question who really benefits from closed access.

Source: https://missinformed.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2013/02/15/publishing-and-the-pooc-or-why-we-need-open-access/

There are two types of Open Access: Gold and Green. The main difference between the two is who picks up the cost of publishing.

Gold: instead of charging readers to access scholarly journals (by means of subscriptions), publishers charge authors, or their funders or institutions, to publish their papers. This allows publishers to make research papers immediately and freely available on the Internet.

Source: http://poynder.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/the-oa-interviews-martin-hall-vice.html

Green: researchers continue to publish in subscription journals (without payment), but also self-archive their papers in their institutional repository, usually after an embargo period of 6-24 months.

This approach means that researchers can make their papers freely available themselves. Whilst 'Green' Open Access incurs no cost by the author, 'traditional' publication costs may still apply (eg. printing).

Source: http://poynder.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/the-oa-interviews-martin-hall-vice.htmlhttp://www.aston.ac.uk/library/additional-information-for/open-access-publishing-for-aston-authors/open-access-publishing-explained/

How do authors benefit from Open Access?• Increased visibility- If your work can be accessed more widely, you’ll not only receive more readers

but more citations. As a result, your work will gain more influence in your field of study. Work that isn’t readily available or accessible is often neglected or ignored. Watch the video on the next slide for more on this argument.

• Recognition- Awareness of your research and findings will increase with Open Access across

the globe!

• More control over their work- No need to relinquish copyright to publishers

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/cirasella/open-access-publishing-crash-course?qid=bcac81e8-fb2e-4050-a05e-032bb61286e6&v=qf1&b=&from_search=17

Source: http://www.aston.ac.uk/library/additional-information-for/open-access-publishing-for-aston-authors/open-access-publishing-explained/

What are the arguments against Open Access?• ‘open access journals are less established than subscription journals

and many are not being tracked for impact journals’ [1]

• ‘researchers are concerned about the premature release of research data and the ethics of openness when information is collected with assurances of anonymity. Each of these is a complex set of issues in its own right’[2]

• ‘[those] who publish in Gold Open Access will end up publishing in journals that are less international, and for all that access to them is cost-free, are less accessed in fact. UK research published through Gold open access will end up being ignored.’ [3]

[1] http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/oct/27/-sp-whats-the-biggest-challenge-facing-open-access[2] http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/feb/18/open-access-key-issue-university-leaders[3] http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/jul/08/open-access-makes-no-sense

Why is Open Access so hotly debated?

• Money

Open Access changes who pays for the final product.

Rather than readers coming up against a paywall to view the publication (with no guarantee that the research is what they’re looking for), the cost is shifted elsewhere.

The taxpayer essentially no longer pays twice: to fund and to read. With Gold Open Access, the publishers charge the author or institution, rather than the reader.

Many don’t believe universities have the funds for Gold Open Access. See here for more information: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/420326.article

• It goes against how Universities are currently run

‘Our universities were built from the principles of scarcity and closure: restricted access to libraries; special knowledge that could only be passed on in the lecture theatre; closed communities of scholarship.’ [1]

Open Access, for many, is too ‘open’ and is a threat to the traditional style of how universities operate.

[1] http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/feb/18/open-access-key-issue-university-leaders

Why is Open Access so hotly debated?

Open Access: do you have a choice?

‘the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) announced that all UK research post-April 2016 must be open access in order to qualify for funding assessments’

Source: Rebecca Ratcliffe, ‘What’s the biggest challenge facing Open Access?’, http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/oct/27/-sp-whats-the-biggest-challenge-facing-open-access

To sum up: Open Access for authors

Advantages

• A larger audience means the chances of your work being cited are increased. With this you receive greater recognition as an academic

• When open to others, your work can drive innovation and further research

• In removing technical, legal and financial barriers you help educate other people. You won’t be restricting knowledge.

• Open Access is seen as the future. If your work is restricted, it could simply be ignored by other academics

• You’re ‘giving back’ to the taxpayer who funded your research

Disadvantages

• With Gold Open Access, authors may well have to use their funding to pay for their work to be published

• Journals are still seen by many as ‘superior’. Whilst Open Access isn’t trying to replace this, many still view them as less established and of lower quality

• Existing relationships with publishers could be affected, as you’re taking your work into your own hands and affected their profits