Open Access Week: October 24-30
Posted by Megan on October 22, 2011
Why does open access matter for researchers? Here are some thoughts cross-posted from the McGill Library website:
What is open access?
“Open Access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.” – Peter Suber
Why should I care?
Open access
- …gives your work more exposure.
By making by making your work openly available on the internet, it can be found via most search engines (like Google).
- …provides universal access to your work.
It is no longer hidden behind subscription barriers, and it can be accessed by everyone not just those who can pay.
- …meets the requirements of many funding agencies.
Many funders stipulate that research be made publicly available since it is being funded by the public. eScholarship@McGill meets this requirement.
Copyright and your scholarly work
Your rights as an author
- the author holds copyright of a work unless they transfer it to someone else in a signed agreement
- assigning copyright to someone else matters, as they can do anything with your work, and can prevent you from using it in course work and reusing it in subsequent work
- there are tools available where you can transfer copyright while holding back key rights – publishing agreements are negotiable
SPARC Canadian Author’s Addendum
The SPARC Canadian Author’s Addendum is a legal instrument that helps you modify the publisher’s agreement and keep key rights to your article.
Authors
- retain your rights
- reuse your work without restrictions
- receive proper attribution for your work
- make your work openly available through an open access repository
…Read more!
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