Library Guides: Open Access: Fundamentals

Open Access

A Very Brief Introduction to Open Access, by Peter Suber
Suber, one of the founders of the open access movement, defines open access as follows: "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."
Lexi Rubow, Rachael Shen, and Brianna Schofield, "Understanding Open Access: When, Why, & How to Make Your Work Openly Accessible," Authors Alliance, 2015.
This guide from the non-profit Authors Alliance "is for authors of all backgrounds, fields, and disciplines" and "is largely geared to the needs of authors working for academic institutions or under funding mandates."
Open Access Week 2022: Open for Climate Justice Panel with Penn State Faculty
This virtual panel highlighted how the following Penn State faculty panelists have engaged with open research and data throughout their research in ways that have had an impact on climate justice.

Hester Blum, Department of English, College of the Liberal Arts
Eric Crandall, Department of Biology, Eberly College of Science
Roberto Fernández, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering
Helen Greatrex, Department of Geography, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, and Department of Statistics, Eberly College of Science
Margarita López-Uribe, Department of Entomology, College of Agricultural Sciences
Mark Sentesy, Departments of Philosophy and Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, College of the Liberal Arts

Open Access Week 2021: Opening Knowledge Equitably in an Inequitable System, by Natalia Norori
Norori delivered this online talk for the Penn State University Libraries in celebration of Open Access Week 2021. In order to open knowledge equitably, open research should enable people from all backgrounds to learn about and contribute to topics important to them and their communities. However, this is not always the case. In this talk, Norori reflects on the challenges faced by early career researchers who are traditionally excluded from research, including cultural, ideological, and practical barriers. Open research could play a crucial role in building structural equity, but to do so, it should put the needs of marginalized communities and minority groups at its core. This space provides an opportunity to discuss how opening research inclusively can help build better research practices, and move us towards a fair and equitable system.

Penn State's Open Access Policy, AC02: Open Access to Scholarly Articles

AC02: Open Access to Scholarly Articles
Penn State's open access policy, was endorsed by the Penn State Faculty Senate in April 2019. It has since been approved by the president of the university and went into effect on January 1, 2020.
Libraries' Open Access Policy website
Guidelines for the AC02 policy, and information on making your articles open, or getting a waiver.

Open Access Explained, by PhD Comics

Nine Reasons for Making Your Work Open

Increasing readership and citation of your research.
Controlling costs for libraries and readers.
Making your research available to the communities you study.
Enabling policymakers and other decision makers to act on your findings.
Making it easier for teachers to assign your work to their students.
Complying with funders' open and public access policies.
Keeping publicly funded research in public hands.
Ensuring that readers can readily print, copy, and otherwise reuse your work.
Taking advantage of the full power of the internet to share your results.

Services from the Office of Scholarly Communications and Copyright

The Office of Scholarly Communications and Copyright at the Penn State Libraries supports faculty, staff, and students in making informed and ethical decisions about copyright and the use of copyrighted materials in support of education and scholarly communications. The University Libraries supports teaching, learning, and research at Penn State as an active participant in the open access ecosystem, raising discoverability and visibility of Penn State scholarship and resources.

We are available to answer your questions. Submit a request to the Office of Scholarly Communications & Copyright.

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