Open Access

Open Access (OA) refers to the practice of providing unrestricted access via the Internet to peer-reviewed scholarly research. Open access comes in two degrees: Gratis Open Access, which is free online access, and Libre Open Access, which is free online access plus some additional usage rights. These additional usage rights are often granted through the use of various specific Creative Commons licenses. Open access can be applied to all forms of published research output, including peer-reviewed and non peer-reviewed academic journal articles, conference papers, theses, book chapters, and monographs.

History

The open access movement began in the 1990s, as part of a wider movement for open content, to democratize access to knowledge. It gained an important boost from the Budapest Open Access Initiative, an international effort to make research articles in all academic fields freely available on the internet.

Types of Open Access

There are two main types of open access: Green Open Access and Gold Open Access. Green Open Access, also referred to as self-archiving, is the practice of placing a version of an author's manuscript into a repository, making it freely accessible for everyone. Gold Open Access, on the other hand, involves the publication of articles in open access journals. In this case, the publisher makes all articles and related content available for free immediately on the journal's website.

Benefits

Open Access has several benefits. It removes price barriers (subscriptions, licensing fees, pay-per-view fees) and permission barriers (most copyright and licensing restrictions). The Public Library of Science and BioMed Central are prominent examples of this model.

Criticisms

Despite the benefits, Open Access has also faced criticism. Some critics claim that open access journals do not have a rigorous peer review process, leading to the publication of lower quality papers. Others worry about the sustainability of open access publishers who charge no fees to readers or libraries.

See Also

• Academic publishing
• Open educational resources
• Open data
• Open research
• Open science

Open Access Resources
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