Editing Open access (section)

=== Stakeholders and concerned communities ===
[[File:Thank you for practicing Open Science - Igsi8c4BjI8.webm|thumb|thumbtime=0:47|A fictional thank you note from the future to contemporary researchers for sharing their research openly]]
The intended audience of research articles is usually other researchers. Open access helps researchers as readers by opening up access to articles that their libraries do not subscribe to. All researchers benefit from open access as no library can afford to subscribe to every [[scientific journal]] and most can only afford a small fraction of them – this is known as the "[[serials crisis]]".<ref>Van Orsdel, Lee C. & Born, Kathleen. 2005. {{Cite web |title=Periodicals Price Survey 2005: Choosing Sides |work=Library Journal |date=15 April 2005 |url=http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2005/04/publishing/periodicals-price-survey-2005-choosing-sides/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630021651/http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2005/04/publishing/periodicals-price-survey-2005-choosing-sides/ |archive-date=30 June 2017 |access-date=18 October 2017}}</ref>

Open access extends the reach of research beyond its immediate academic circle. An open access article can be read by anyone – a [[professional]] in the field, a [[researcher]] in another field, a [[journalist]], a politician or [[civil servant]], or an interested layperson. Indeed, a 2008 study revealed that [[mental health professional]]s are roughly twice as likely to read a relevant article if it is freely available.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hardisty |first1=David J. |last2=Haaga |first2=David A.F. |year=2008 |title=Diffusion of Treatment Research: Does Open Access Matter? |url=http://decisionsciences.columbia.edu/papers/hardisty-haaga-2008-preprint.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Journal of Clinical Psychology |volume=64 |issue=7 |pages=821–839 |citeseerx=10.1.1.487.5198 |doi=10.1002/jclp.20492 |pmid=18425790 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528051630/http://decisionsciences.columbia.edu/papers/hardisty-haaga-2008-preprint.pdf |archive-date=28 May 2008 |access-date=22 April 2008}}</ref>

==== Research funders ====
{{See also|#Policies and mandates}}
{{Further|Open-access mandate#Instances}}

[[Research funding]] agencies and universities want to ensure that the research they fund and support in various ways has the greatest possible research impact.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DFID Research: DFID's Policy Opens up a World of Global Research |url=http://www.dfid.gov.uk/What-we-do/Research-and-evidence/case-studies/research-case-studies/2012/DFIDs-policy-opens-up-a-world-of-global-research/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130103141246/http://www.dfid.gov.uk/What-we-do/Research-and-evidence/case-studies/research-case-studies/2012/DFIDs-policy-opens-up-a-world-of-global-research/ |archive-date=3 January 2013 |website=dfid.gov.uk}}</ref> As a means of achieving this, research funders are beginning to expect open access to the research they support. Many of them (including all UK Research Councils) have already adopted [[open-access mandate]]s, and others are on the way to do so (see [[ROARMAP]]).

==== Universities ====
A growing number of universities are providing institutional repositories in which their researchers can deposit their published articles. Some open access advocates believe that institutional repositories will play a very important role in responding to open-access mandates from funders.<ref>[http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/369-guid.html How To Integrate University and Funder Open Access Mandates] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080316202403/http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?%2Farchives%2F369-guid.html |date=16 March 2008 }}. Openaccess.eprints.org (2 March 2008). Retrieved on 3 December 2011.</ref>

In May 2005, 16 major [[Dutch universities]] cooperatively launched [[Darenet|DAREnet]], the Digital Academic Repositories, making over 47,000 research papers available.<ref>Libbenga, Jan. (11 May 2005) [https://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/11/open_access_research/ Dutch academics declare research free-for-all] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170715102913/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/11/open_access_research/ |date=15 July 2017 }}. Theregister.co.uk. Retrieved on 3 December 2011.</ref> From 2 June 2008, DAREnet has been incorporated into the scholarly portal [[NARCIS (National Academic Research and Collaboration Information System)|NARCIS]].<ref>[http://www.narcis.info/ Portal NARCIS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101105233251/http://www.narcis.info/ |date=5 November 2010 }}. Narcis.info. Retrieved on 3 December 2011.</ref> By 2019, NARCIS provided access to 360,000 open access publications from all Dutch universities, [[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences|KNAW]], [[Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research|NWO]] and a number of scientific institutes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Open and closed access scholarly publications in NARCIS per year of publication |url=https://www.narcis.nl/metrics/Language/en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426143211/https://www.narcis.nl/metrics/Language/en |archive-date=26 April 2019 |access-date=26 February 2019 |website=NARCIS}}</ref>

In 2011, a group of universities in North America formed the Coalition of Open Access Policy Institutions (COAPI).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Coalition of Open Access Policy Institutions (COAPI) – SPARC |url=http://www.sparc.arl.org/COAPI |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018182442/http://www.sparc.arl.org/COAPI |archive-date=18 October 2015 |access-date=20 October 2015 |website=arl.org}}</ref> Starting with 21 institutions where the faculty had either established an open access policy or were in the process of implementing one, COAPI now has nearly 50 members. These institutions' administrators, faculty and librarians, and staff support the international work of the Coalition's awareness-raising and advocacy for open access.

In 2012, the Harvard Open Access Project released its guide to good practices for university open-access policies,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Good practices for university open-access policies |url=https://cyber.harvard.edu/hoap/Good_practices_for_university_open-access_policies |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005152857/https://cyber.harvard.edu/hoap/Good_practices_for_university_open-access_policies |archive-date=5 October 2016 |access-date=4 October 2016 |website=Harvard}}</ref> focusing on rights-retention policies that allow universities to distribute faculty research without seeking permission from publishers. As of November 2023, Rights retention policies are being adopted by an increasing number of UK universities as well.

In 2013 a group of nine Australian universities formed the Australian Open Access Strategy Group (AOASG) to advocate, collaborate, raise awareness, and lead and build capacity in the open access space in Australia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 February 2013 |title=About the AOASG |url=http://aoasg.org.au/welcome-to-the-aoasg/about/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220233015/http://aoasg.org.au/welcome-to-the-aoasg/about/ |archive-date=20 December 2014 |website=Australian Open Access Support Group}}</ref> In 2015, the group expanded to include all eight New Zealand universities and was renamed the Australasian Open Access Support Group.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 August 2015 |title=Australian Open Access Support Group expands to become Australasian Open Access Support Group |url=http://aoasg.org.au/2015/08/17/australian-open-access-support-group-expands-to-become-australasian-open-access-support-group/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117033048/http://aoasg.org.au/2015/08/17/australian-open-access-support-group-expands-to-become-australasian-open-access-support-group/ |archive-date=17 November 2015}}</ref> It was then renamed the Australasian Open Access Strategy Group, highlighting its emphasis on strategy. The awareness raising activities of the AOASG include presentations, workshops, blogs, and a webinar series on open access issues.<ref>{{Cite news |date=31 August 2016 |title=Creative Commons Australia partners with Australasian Open Access Strategy Group |work=Creative Commons Australia}}</ref>

==== Libraries and librarians ====
As information professionals, [[librarian]]s are often vocal and active advocates of open access. These librarians believe that open access promises to remove both the price and permission barriers that undermine library efforts to provide access to scholarship, as well as helping to address the [[serials crisis]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Suber |first=Peter |date=2003 |title=Removing the Barriers to Research: An Introduction to Open Access for Librarians |url=https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/3715477 |url-status=live |journal=College & Research Libraries News |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=92–94, 113 |doi=10.5860/crln.64.2.92 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620180839/https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/3715477 |archive-date=20 June 2018 |access-date=20 June 2018 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Open access provides a complement to library access services such as [[interlibrary loan]], supporting researchers' needs for immediate access to scholarship.<ref>{{Cite conference |last=Baich |first=Tina |date=2015 |title=Capturing the Benefits of Open Access in Interlibrary Loan |url=https://scholarworks.iupui.edu/handle/1805/7411 |conference=Brick & Click Libraries: An Academic Library Conference |location=Maryville, MO |doi=10.7912/C2KW2F}}</ref> Librarians and library associations also lead education and outreach initiatives to faculty, administrators, the library community, and the public about the benefits of open access.

Many library associations have either signed major open access declarations or created their own. For example, [[International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions|IFLA]] have produced a Statement on Open Access.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 March 2019 |title=IFLA Statement on Open Access (2011) |url=https://www.ifla.org/publications/node/8890 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831011403/https://www.ifla.org/publications/node/8890 |archive-date=31 August 2020 |website=IFLA}}</ref> The [[Association of Research Libraries]] has documented the need for increased access to scholarly information, and was a leading founder of the [[Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition]] (SPARC).<ref>[http://www.sparc.arl.org/ Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130815193855/http://www.sparc.arl.org/|date=15 August 2013}}. Arl.org. Retrieved on 3 December 2011.</ref><ref>[http://scu.edu.au/library/index.php/138 Open Access for Scholarly Publishing] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519213205/http://scu.edu.au/library/index.php/138|date=19 May 2014}}. Southern Cross University Library. Retrieved on 14 March 2014.</ref> Librarians and library associations also develop and share informational resources on scholarly publishing and open access to research; the Scholarly Communications Toolkit<ref>[http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/scholarlycomm/scholarlycommunicationtoolkit/toolkit.htm ALA] Scholarly Communication Toolkit {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050908035323/http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/scholarlycomm/scholarlycommunicationtoolkit/toolkit.htm|date=8 September 2005}}</ref> developed by the [[Association of College and Research Libraries]] of the [[American Library Association]] is one example of this work.

At most universities, the library manages the institutional repository, which provides free access to scholarly work by the university's faculty. The [[Canadian Association of Research Libraries]] has a program<ref>[http://www.carl-abrc.ca/en/scholarly-communications/carl-institutional-repository-program.html CARL – Institutional Repositories Program] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607213902/http://carl-abrc.ca/en/scholarly-communications/carl-institutional-repository-program.html|date=7 June 2013}}. Carl-abrc.ca. Retrieved on 12 June 2013.</ref> to develop institutional repositories at all Canadian university libraries. An increasing number of libraries provide [[Library publishing|publishing]] or hosting services for open access journals, with the Library Publishing Coalition as a membership organisation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lippincott |first=Sarah |date=5 July 2016 |title=The Library Publishing Coalition: organizing libraries to enhance scholarly publishing |url=http://insights.uksg.org/jms/article/download/uksg.296/557 |url-status=live |journal=Insights |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=186–191 |doi=10.1629/uksg.296 |issn=2048-7754 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721094209/https://insights.uksg.org/jms/article/download/uksg.296/557 |archive-date=21 July 2018 |access-date=2 September 2019 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

In 2013, open access activist [[Aaron Swartz]] was posthumously awarded the American Library Association's [[James Madison Award]] for being an "outspoken advocate for public participation in government and unrestricted access to peer-reviewed scholarly articles".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kopfstein |first=Janus |date=13 March 2013 |title=Aaron Swartz to receive posthumous 'Freedom of Information' award for open access advocacy |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/3/13/4099792/aaron-swartz-to-receive-posthumous-freedom-of-information-award-for |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315223429/http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/13/4099792/aaron-swartz-to-receive-posthumous-freedom-of-information-award-for |archive-date=15 March 2013 |access-date=24 March 2013 |website=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=17 January 2013 |title=James Madison Award |url=http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/james-madison-award |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130322035516/http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/james-madison-award |archive-date=22 March 2013 |access-date=24 March 2013 |publisher=Ala.org}}</ref> In March 2013, the entire editorial board and the editor-in-chief of the ''[[Journal of Library Administration]]'' resigned en masse, citing a dispute with the journal's publisher.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brandom |first=Russell |date=26 March 2013 |title=Entire library journal editorial board resigns, citing 'crisis of conscience' after death of Aaron Swartz |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/3/26/4149752/library-journal-resigns-for-open-access-citing-aaron-swartz |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231215050/http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/26/4149752/library-journal-resigns-for-open-access-citing-aaron-swartz |archive-date=31 December 2013 |access-date=1 January 2014 |website=The Verge}}</ref>  One board member wrote of a "crisis of conscience about publishing in a journal that was not open access" after the death of Aaron Swartz.<ref>{{Cite web |last=New |first=Jake |date=27 March 2013 |title=Journal's Editorial Board Resigns in Protest of Publisher's Policy Toward Authors |url=http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/journals-editorial-board-resigns-in-protest-of-publishers-policy-toward-authors/43149 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108055058/http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/journals-editorial-board-resigns-in-protest-of-publishers-policy-toward-authors/43149 |archive-date=8 January 2014 |website=The Chronicle of Higher Education}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bourg |first=Chris |date=23 March 2013 |title=My short stint on the JLA Editorial Board |url=http://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/2013/03/23/my-short-stint-on-the-jla-editorial-board/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140824063817/http://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/2013/03/23/my-short-stint-on-the-jla-editorial-board/ |archive-date=24 August 2014 |website=Feral Librarian |quote=It was just days after Aaron Swartz' death, and I was having a crisis of conscience about publishing in a journal that was not open access}}</ref>

==== Public ====
The public may benefit from open access to scholarly research for many reasons. Advocacy groups such as [[Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition|SPARC]]'s Alliance for Taxpayer Access in the US argue that most scientific research is paid for by taxpayers through [[government grant]]s, who have a right to access the results of what they have funded.<ref>[http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/ ATA | The Alliance for Taxpayer Access] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927194105/http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/ |date=27 September 2007 }}. Taxpayeraccess.org (29 October 2011). Retrieved on 3 December 2011.</ref> Examples of people who might wish to read scholarly literature include individuals with medical conditions and their family members, serious hobbyists or "amateur" scholars (e.g. [[Amateur astronomy|amateur astronomers]]), and high school and [[junior college]] students. Additionally, professionals in many fields, such as those doing research in private companies, [[start-up]]s, and hospitals, may not have access to publications behind paywalls, and OA publications are the only type that they can access in practice.

Even those who do not read scholarly articles benefit indirectly from open access.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120213162340/http://eprints.rclis.org/handle/10760/6842 Open Access: Basics and Benefits]. Eprints.rclis.org. Retrieved on 3 December 2011.</ref> For example, patients benefit when their doctor and other [[health care]] professionals have access to the latest research. Advocates argue that open access speeds research progress, productivity, and knowledge translation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Eysenbach |first=Gunther |year=2006 |title=The Open Access Advantage |journal=J Med Internet Res |volume=8 |issue=2 |page=e8 |doi=10.2196/jmir.8.2.e8 |pmc=1550699 |pmid=16867971 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== Low-income countries ====
In developing nations, open access archiving and publishing acquires a unique importance.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Karlstrøm |first1=Henrik |last2=Aksnes |first2=Dag W |last3=Piro |first3=Fredrik N |title=Benefits of open access to researchers from lower-income countries: A global analysis of reference patterns in 1980–2020 |journal=[[Journal of Information Science]] |date=2024 |doi=10.1177/01655515241245952 |doi-access=free|hdl=11250/3130944 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Scientists, health care professionals, and institutions in developing nations often do not have the capital necessary to access scholarly literature.

Many open access projects involve international collaboration. For example, the [[SciELO]] (Scientific Electronic Library Online),<ref>[http://www.scielo.org/index.php?lang=en Scientific Electronic Library Online] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050831151907/http://www.scielo.org/index.php?lang=en |date=31 August 2005 }}. SciELO. Retrieved on 3 December 2011.</ref> is a comprehensive approach to full open access journal publishing, involving a number of [[Latin America]]n countries. [[Bioline International]], a [[non-profit organization]] dedicated to helping publishers in developing countries is a collaboration of people in the UK, Canada, and Brazil; the Bioline International Software is used around the world. [[Research Papers in Economics]] (RePEc), is a collaborative effort of over 100 volunteers in 45 countries. The [[Public Knowledge Project]] in Canada developed the [[Open-source software|open-source]] publishing software [[Open Journal Systems]] (OJS), which is now in use around the world, for example by the [[African Journals Online]] group, and one of the most active development groups is Portuguese. This international perspective has resulted in advocacy for the development of [[open-source appropriate technology]] and the necessary open access to relevant information for [[sustainable development]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pearce |first=J. M. |year=2012 |title=The case for open source appropriate technology |journal=Environment, Development and Sustainability |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=425–431 |doi=10.1007/s10668-012-9337-9 |bibcode=2012EDSus..14..425P |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>A. J. Buitenhuis, et al., "[http://nciia.org/sites/default/files/pearce.pdf Open Design-Based Strategies to Enhance Appropriate Technology Development] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725131916/http://nciia.org/sites/default/files/pearce.pdf |date=25 July 2018 }}", ''Proceedings of the 14th Annual National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance Conference : Open'', 25–27 March 2010, pp.1–12.</ref>