Open Access

What is Open Access?

Open Access is a growing international movement that encourages the unrestricted sharing of research results for the advancement and enjoyment of science and society.   Open Access proponents seek to make all research freely accessible online immediately after publication through open access journals and repositories.  

The Open Access philosophy was firmly articulated in 2002, when the Budapest Open Access Initiative was introduced. It quickly took root in the scientific and medical communities because it offered an alternative route to research literature that was frequently closed off behind costly subscription barriers.

Now Open Access is on a roll.  Recent funder mandates — including that of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (the world’s largest research funder), which now requires that all their funded research be placed in an openly accessible database, and Harvard University — have further strengthened the prospects for Open Access to all research.

Watch these short videos to learn more about Open Access publishing.

What is Open Access Week?

Open Access Week is a global event focused on informing the academic and research community about the potential benefits of open access publishing and scholarship.

UC Merced will join with other UC libraries and academic libraries throughout the world by hosting Open Access Week Events during the week of October 22-28, 2012.  Events include:

• Informative digital signage throughout the library
• Webcast sponsored by SPARC and the World Bank Open Knowledge Repository:  Set the Default to Open Access (Monday, October 22, 2012 @ 1:00 - 2:30 pm am in KL260)
• Workshop presented by Susan Borda, UC Merced Digital Curation Librarian: Resources for Open Data (Wednesday October 24, 2012 @ 12:00 - 1:00 pm in KL 260)
• Open Access Panel Discussion, UC Merced faculty Miriam Barlow, Peggy O'Day, Mike Dawson, Ignacio Lopez-Calvo, and Interim University Librarian Donald Barclay, (Friday, October 26, 2012 @ 12:00 - 1:00 pm in KL260). Lunch will be served.

What else is the UC Merced Library doing to support Open Access?

In 2010, we joined more than 200 prestigious North American universities by becoming a supporting member of SPARC, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition. Developed by the Association of Research Libraries, SPARC is an international alliance of academic and research libraries whose goal is to affect needed change to the current scholarly publishing system. SPARC seeks to promote scholarly communication models that broaden the dissemination of scholarly research by networking the current digital environment. 

UC Merced librarians are available to work with faculty to help them understand and leverage open access publishing options and platforms. eScholarship, the University of California Digital Repository, is one option for scholarly publishing that supports open access and gives faculty direct control over the creation and dissemination of the full range of their scholarship. Many UC Merced departments and scholars are utilizing eScholarship as a platform for open access publishing. eScholarship Video (1min. 20 sec.)

For more information about Open Access, please visit our Open Access Resources page. 

Why is Open Access important?

Video - Voices of Open Access Video Series

Additional Resources

Open Access Scholarly Information Sourcebook

For more information about how we can assist you with open access publishing, please email the library.