Understanding Open Access

Understanding Open Access: When, Why & How to Make Your Work Openly Accessible provides a scholarly author-oriented look at the ins and outs of open access publishing. The guide addresses common concerns about what “open access” means, how institutional and funder open access policies work, and why authors might consider making their works openly accessible online. It also provides information on how to openly license works, how to tailor licensing permissions, and where authors can consider making their open access works available. The guide includes real-life strategies that authors can use to work with publishers, institutions, and funders to make their works available on the terms most consistent with their dissemination goals

Understanding open access: when, why, and how to make your work openly accessible

This book provides the most up-to-date information about when, why, and how to make your work openly accessible.Its goal is to encourage authors to consider open access publishing by addressing common questions and concerns and by providing real-life strategies and tools that authors can use to work with publishers, institutions, and funders to make their works more widely accessible to all. The advent of global digital networks now provides authors who write to be read with exciting new options for communicating their ideas broadly. One of these options is open access. The basic idea of open access is that it makes copyrightable works available without all of the access barriers associated with the “all rights reserved” model. These can take the form of price barriers and permission barriers. Open access typically comes in two forms. What has come to be known as gratis open access is the practice of making a work available online  free of charge (also called public access). The term libre open access (also called full open access) refers to the practice of making a work available online free of charge and with some additional reuse rights, typically granted through a Creative Commons license. Gratis open access removes price barriers, whereas libre open access additionally removes at least some permission barriers, allowing users to copy, redistribute, and/or adapt a work. Open access contrasts with more traditional models of restricted-access publishing in which copies of works are made directly available only to paying customers. Authors who are interested in increasing access to their works may want to understand whether eliminating cost and permissions barriers is a good option for them and, if so, how they might release their works under open access terms. Other authors may be required by their employer or funding agency to comply with an open access policy. Still other authors may be skeptical about whether open access is compatible with their publication goals—including rigorous peer review, prestige, or monetary compensation—and want to learn more