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.”
Why is Open Access important?
◦ “OA removes price barriers (subscriptions,
licensing fees, pay-per-view fees) and
permission barriers (most copyright and
licensing restrictions)”
- Peter Suber, independent policy strategist for open
access to research
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/hometoc.htm
Why is Open Access Important?
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
 Costs vary by discipline
Cost Increase for Subscription
Journals in Academic Libraries
Examples (2004 – 2008):

Subject Percentage Increase

Biology 55%
Chemistry 34%
Health Sciences 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
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
 Sometimes these are core journals for certain
disciplines
Why Are Journal Prices Increasing?
Manyjournals are now published by large
commercial publishers
◦ These commercial publishers are taking over
titles from independent, non-profit publishers
Commercial publishers “routinely operate
with profit margins on their Science,
Technology and Medical (STM) journal
portfolios of between 30% and 40%
annually”
 http://www.arl.org/sparc/students/history.shtml
Remember!
Inthe academic environment, scholars must often
“publish or perish”
◦ 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
Scholars who peer-review and edit for a
commercially published journal are also unpaid
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
Tax-payers and students must turn around
and buy back from the publishing
companies the research that has already
been paid for!
The Role of Open Access
“Digital,
online, free of charge, and free of
most copyright and licensing restrictions.”

Access research articles without barriers or

fees

Many open access journals are peer-reviewed

◦ Scholars donate their time to edit and referee, just

as they do for the commercially published journals
The Cost of Open Access Journals
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
Open Access journals may charge a processing
fee to an article’s author or employer
◦ Fees are often waived for economic hardship
May include advertisements
Open Access Archives or Repositories
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
Author’s may archive preprints without
anyone’s permission
◦ Many journals allow authors to archive their
postprints
 How Librarians Can Promote
Open Access
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

JoinSPARC, a consortium of academic libraries that actively promote

OA http://arl.org/sparc
 How Faculty Can Promote
Open Access
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

Serveon your university’s committee to evaluate faculty for

promotion or tenure
◦ Do not penalize faculty for publishing in open access journals

Educate others about open access

For More Information:
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

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/
SPARC: History of Declining Access
http://www.arl.org/sparc/students/history.shtml
What Librarians Can Do to Promote Open Access
http://api.ning.com/files/UA39w6-9AnX6TD8q6-Pf9cH6gZXFwhTXSvYW8y4EBYQcoLUvsEm1v
Y5tjaniVLDe*9dzHBvL9fXwVs0HZ6VE-l6awtjyhhG-/
Librarians

What Faculty Can Do To Promote Open Access

http://
api.ning.com/files/zRFidZuXNPSiyVKVhJ40gWQuHZd4smwjFm0elVHTZDvWXKbY*8mAM
PvwwaIAY6eC2kfO6hRxKs3kb7Ncf6FeB*VaQIOqbD-
/Faculty
Thank You!
Please take this very brief, 4 question survey about this
presentation:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NBCC9RN
Questions or Comments
◦ Laura Wilson, Reference Librarian
 508-626-4654
 lwilson2@framingham.edu
Ifyou would like to suggest a topic for a future
LibLearn session, please contact the Reference
Department
◦ 508-626-4654
◦ reference@framingham.edu