What is Open Access Publishing?

Open access publishing is the provision of online access to scholarly material without charge to the reader. The benefits of open access publishing apply both to the readers who receive prompt, free access and to the authors who receive inexpensive worldwide exposure and publicity, considerably increasing its citation and impact. The open access movement has focused specifically on the field of to scholarly scientific journal material.

There are two main forms of open access, with many variations. In open access publishing, also known as the gold road, journals make their articles openly accessible immediately on publication.  In author self-archiving, also called the green road, authors make copies of their articles openly accessible, generally in a subject or institutional repository.

Major definitions of open access

The Budapest Statement

The Bethesda Statement

The Berlin Statement

Further information about Open Access publishing

Open Access Bibliography: provides an overview of open access concepts

Open Access Journals: an overview from Yale University Science Libraries 

The Facts about Open Access: study sponsored by the The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers, Highwire Press & American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Provides a publisher's perspective on Open Access

Some open access journal services

BioMed Central - over 140 open access journals covering all areas of biology and medicine

Directory of Open Access Journals

FreeFullText.com - provides direct links to over 7000 scholarly periodicals which allow some or all of their online content to be viewed by ANYONE with Internet access for free (though some may require free registration)

Highwire Press - scientific and medical research online in high-quality web environments

PhysNet: The Physics Departments and Documents Network - information from physics departments and institutes worldwide

Public Library of Science Open Access

PubMed Central - U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature

Content Responsibility: Pat.Tandy@canberra.edu.au