Open access initiatives & key concepts
The Open Access Movement aims to make peer-reviewed research literature freely available via the Internet. The University of Sheffield has co-ordinated its open access policy within the White Rose consortium. The concept of open access is still evolving, it is a complex picture and there are a variety of open access models. The Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) provides a landmark definition of open access.
The EPrints Open Access web site provides a forum for the discussion of open access issues and links to many sites providing information on open access publishing and archiving. It also provides guidance on self-archiving for universities.
In addition to the key issues of peer-review and availability, open access material should also carry no restrictions on how published material is subsequently used, except to require that proper attribution of the work be given to the author and that authors retain control over the integrity of their work.
SPARC®, (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), is an alliance of universities, research libraries, and organizations which sponsors and publishes SOAN, a monthly newsletter offering news and analysis of the open access movement.
If you'd like to know more about SPARC or subscribe to SOAN, please follow the links below:
Open access journals, archives & repositories
Open access archives & repositories
SHERPA RoMEO database of open access rights policies (journals & publishers)