Transition to Open Access and its Implications on Grey Literature Resources

Abstract

This paper describes the transition to Open Access and its implications on grey literature resources. In this paper we will present current Open Access models, known as “offsetting deals”, which main intention is to avoid “double dipping”. This part will also review the role of library consortia in this process, as well as current Open Access policies in Europe. The second part of this paper will explore the role of grey literature in transition process to Open Access. Grey literature is an important source of original research and up to date information, although the lack of peer review and formal publication standards must be taken into account during an evaluation process. Grey literature plays an important role in the rapid and timely distribution of in-depth, recent, scientific and technical information, and also provides access to a broad range of information and often contains new ideas. Research that is not published in journals but available in other formats (such as reports, theses or conference proceedings) is often more detailed, more recent and sometimes more rapidly disseminated. Due to the competitive and time consuming nature of publishing in peer-reviewed academic journals, some research may never make into journals and would, therefore, be inaccessible to interested parties without the grey literature. We will present possible ways of increasing the visibility of grey literature repositories, their inclusion in open access databases, and how to connect these institutional grey literature repositories with current research information systems.Includes: Conference preprint, Powerpoint presentation, Abstract and Biographical notesXAInternationa