What is open access? | UC Berkeley Library

Transforming this system to one based on open access (OA) to scholarship means making peer-reviewed literature available online without any financial, legal, or ... Skiptomaincontent Whatisopenaccess? UsingtheLibraryduringCOVID-19 MostofUCBerkeley’slibrarybuildingsareopen.TostayuptodateontheLibrary’spoliciesandservicesduringthepandemic,visittheLibrary’sCOVID-19webpage. "Whycan'tIreadthisarticle?" Traditionally,accesstoscholarlyliteraturehasbeenavailableonlytoinstitutionsorpeoplewithsubscriptionstothepublishingjournal.Thesesubscriptionsarenotjustexpensive,butalsoincreasinglyoutofreachevenforthelargestresearchuniversities. Largely,thedemandforonlineliteraturehasnotchangedthisresult:Ifyourinstitutionhasasubscriptiontothejournalinprint,thenyoumayalsohaveaccesstoelectronicversionsofthearticles.Butifyoudon'thaveasubscription(orhavesubscriptionaccessthroughaninstitution),onlineaccessisoftenavailableonlybehinda"paywall"--thatis,ifyouarewillingtopaymoneytoreadtheparticulararticle.   HowdoesOpenAccesschangethings? Transformingthissystemtoonebasedonopenaccess(OA)toscholarshipmeansmakingpeer-reviewedliteratureavailableonlinewithoutanyfinancial,legal,ortechnicalbarriersotherthangainingaccesstotheInternet,itself. Eliminatingbarrierstoreadershipenableseveryonetohaveaccesstotheresearchtheyneed. Aworldwithoutscholarshippaywallsalso advancesknowledge,promotesprogress,andmaximizesresearchimpactandreturnoninvestment. OAisatitsmosteffectiveinservingthesegoalswherethescholarshipisalsomadeavailablewiththefewestpossiblerestrictionsonreuse,therebyfacilitiatingbroaddissemination,constructiveengagement,andbroadereducationalpossibilities.Inotherwords:OAscholarshipthatisnotmerely"availableonline"forfreetoread,butalsofreefromarightsperspectivetousefreelyandbuildupon.   OAHistory Fordecades,manyscholars,researchers,funders,students, andothershavedesiredthisopenoutcome. In2002,the BudapestOpenAccessInitiative (BOAI)helpedlaunchaglobalcampaignforallnewpeer-reviewedliteraturetobemadeavailableOA. The BerlinDeclarationonOpenAccesstoKnowledge (“BerlinDeclaration”)echoedthismissionagainin2003,andvariousendeavorssincethenredoubledeffortstoachievetheseaims.Asaresultoftheseandotherefforts,today approximately 15%ofjournalarticles areOAatthetimetheyarepublished. Throughthe 2013UCAcademicSenate and 2015PresidentialOApolicies,theUniversityofCaliforniasimilarlyexpressedstrongcommitmentstoadvancingknowledgeandfacilitatingaccessibilityandimpactfortheincrediblescholarshipproducedonUCcampuses.   HowdoesOApublishingwork? PublishingascholarlyarticleorbookOAdoes not meanforegoingpeerrevieworanyoftheotherstringenteditorialprocessesthatensurehighqualityscholarship.(Infact,peerreviewcanbeevencarriedoutinmorecosteffectivewaysforOAjournals.)Rather,atitscore,OAisanoutcome:Scholarshipispublishedonlineinawaythatcanbereadandusedbyanyone,and withoutanyfinancial,legal,ortechnicalbarriersotherthangainingaccesstotheInternet,itself.  So,thequestion,instead,is:HowisOAfunded?IfwereplacethesubscriptionsystemwithOAendproducts,whogetspaidandhow?TheLibraryisakeystakeholderinevaulating,supporting,andadvancingsustainableOApublishingmodels.Wediscussmanyofthembelow.   AccessModels Twoofthepredominantwaysthatarticlesormonographscanbepublishedopenlyonlineare "GoldOpenAccess"and"GreenOpenAccess." GoldOpenAccess: GoldOAprovides immediateaccesstothefinal,publisher-versionofthearticleonthepublisher'sjournalwebsite.SomeGoldOApublishers recoupproductioncostsviachargesforauthorstopublish("articleprocessingcharges"or"bookprocessingcharges")ratherthanhavingreaders(orlibraries)paytoaccessandreadit.Thisisasysteminwhich"authorpays,"ratherthan"readerpays."Thefees tobepaidbytheauthorcanbecoveredbyvarioussources,suchas:researchaccounts, researchgrants,the university,thelibrary,scholarlysocieties,andconsortia.Productioncostscanalsobeoffsetbythesaleofmemberships, add-onsandenhancedservicesbythepublisher. Notethatmany"OApublishers"actuallyoperateundera"hybrid"modelinwhichtheycharge thelibraryforasubscription, andaskauthorstopayAPCs. Thisresultsinasituationforthepublishersoftenreferredtoas"doubledipping,"sincepublishersarepaidtwice. GreenOpenAccess:Alsoknownas self-archiving,intheGreenOAmodelauthorsuploadafinalauthorversionoftheirmanuscripttoarepository,butusuallyitisnotthepublisher'sfinalformattedversion.Thisfacilitatesaccesstothecontentofaparticulararticle,butnotthejournal, itself.UC'sOpenAccessPolicyfostersOAinthisfashion.GreenOAcanbesupportedthroughinstitutional,funder,government,orotherfundsdedicatedtowardcreatingandmaintainingarepository.   Funding WetalkedaboveaboutthetwopredominantOAaccessmodels.Let's digabitmoreintofundingoptionstomakethosemodelswork: PayingpublishersanArticleProcessingChargewhenanarticleisacceptedforpublication.Thefeeservestofinancepublicationtoreplacewhatthejournalotherwisewouldhavereceivedunderasubscriptionmodel.ThisishowpublisherslikethePublicLibraryofScience(PLoS)and eLife arefundedtoday.  LibraryconsortiapayingnegotiatedamountstopublisherstomakeadefinedsetofjournalsOpenAccess.ThismodeliscurrentlyinplaceforHighEnergyPhysicswiththe SCOAP3 initiative—apartnershipofover3,000libraries,keyfundingagenciesandresearchcentersin44countriesand3intergovernmentalorganisations,aswellasleadingpublishersinthatdiscipline. Payingpublishersamembershipfeethatcoverpublicationcostsforaterm.Thisisaninnovativefundingapproachbynewerpublisherslike PeerJ. Supportingnewerpublishingplatformsforscholarlyjournalsand/orpreprintarchivesthatoperateatverylowcostandaresubsidizedbylibrarymembershipfees.The OpenLibraryoftheHumanities operatesonthisbusinessmodel. Journalsthatoperateentirelyfreeofcosttoauthorsorreaders,thankstoendowmentsandsubsidiesfromnon-profitsocieties,philanthropicorganizations,researchinstitutions,orgovernmentagencies. Newfundingapproachescontinuetoemerge.UCBerkeleyiscommittedtoexploringtheseevolvingmodelstoachieveapproaches thatarebothsustainableandreducebarrierstoaccessandre-use.   Whatabout OAbooks? CheckoutourpageonOpen&AffordableBooks@UCBerkeley. WhilemanyscholarsinthehumanitiesandsocialsciencespublishinOAjournals,theyalsopublishscholarlybooks,termed“monographs”.Thesebooksbecomeacriticalcomponentofprofessionalcredentialing,yettheirreadershipislimitedbythesamekindsof accessbarriersendemictosubscription-basedjournals:Thescholarlybooksarequiteexpensive,andincreasinglyfewerlibrariescanaffordtopurchasethem. Universitypresses’fundingmodelsforfinancingOAbooksareinnovativeandevolving.UCPress’Luminos program,forinstance,isformulatedasapartnershipinwhichcostsandbenefitsaresharedbymemberorganizations.Manyacademicpublishersalsoofferaprintorprint-on-demandversionofthebookforsaletoreaderswhopreferhardcopies,furtherenablingcostrecoverythroughtraditionalprintsales.  Attheircore,mostOAbookfundingmodelstypicallychargeacademicauthorstheequivalentofanAPC.Giventhegreaterinvestmentneededtocreateandeditlongerandmorecomplexmanuscripts,thebookprocessingcharges(BPCs)canrangeupwardsof$7000.AtUCBerkeley,wecanhelpsubsidizethosefeesthroughourBRIIprogramsothatauthors'out-of-pocketiszeroorsubstantiallyreduced--withtheupshotbeingthattheresultingliteratureisavailabletoall.Wecanalsohelpyoucreateanopenbookforfree,usingplatformslikePressbooksEDU. OpenAccess