Open Access – an international movement

Open Access (OA) is the term used for an international movement that promotes open publishing and free online access to scholarly materials such as publications and research data. Content is defined as “open access” when everyone can access it without barriers—that is, without financial, legal, or technical restrictions. Anyone may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the information, or use the material for teaching or other purposes, provided the author is properly credited.

Open Access – a publishing model

Open Access is also a publishing model for scholarly material that makes research outputs freely available to readers, as opposed to the traditional subscription model where access to academic information requires payment (typically via libraries).

One of the most significant advantages of open access is that it increases the visibility and reuse of scholarly research results.

The core principles of open access are outlined in the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities (2003). The declaration has been signed by many international research organizations. Notably, the Icelandic Science and Technology Policy Council, operating under the Prime Minister’s Office, signed the Berlin Declaration in May 2010. Upon signing, the Council encouraged all managers of public research funds in Iceland to require grant recipients to publish the outputs of publicly funded research in OA. The National and University Library of Iceland signed the Berlin Declaration in 2012.

Objectives

The goal of Open Access (OA) is to ensure that the results of publicly funded research are available in digital form as widely and as easily as possible, and that they can be used by as many people as possible at no cost.

Full texts of scholarly articles and other academic materials – such as reports and research data – made available through open access may therefore be read, distributed, copied, and used, as long as the author is properly credited.

Open access aims to strengthen scientific and scholarly work, with the overarching purpose of accelerating scientific progress for the benefit of all. Open access materials include research results, research data, metadata, and digital representations of texts and images (from the National and University Library’s policy on open access and open science).