Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. What makes it possible is the internet and the consent of the author or copyright-holder.
four ways in which science is advanced by Open Access: it enables greater visibility and, as a result, impact; it moves science along more quickly; it enables new 'Web 2.0' semantic technologies to work on scientific output, generating new knowledge by da
Vast improvements in raw computing power, storage capacity, algorithms, and networking capabilities have led to fundamental scientific discoveries inspired by a new generation of computational models . . .Powerful 'data mining' techniques operating across
A new metrics in the works...instead of "impact factor", try "usage factor?" A majority of publishers in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) appear to support "UF."
Subscription models make publishers insist on controlling access to research they didn't perform, write up, or fund. They act like a midwives who insist on keeping (or hiding, or performing surgery on) other folks' babies.
If you support open access to peer-reviewed research articles and their preprints, then read my blog and newsletter. See what's been done and what you can do to help the cause. If you're not sure what open access is, then see my overview.
"Academic literature should be freely available: developing countries need access; part time ... thinkers ... journalists and the public can benefit; ... you’ve already paid for much of this stuff with your taxes ... important new ideas from humanity"
Suber's a policy analyst on open access to scientific and scholarly research literature. He's also a Senior Researcher at SPARC, and publisher of the SPARC Open Access Newsletter.