Open Access: Introduction

Open Access  (OA) is "the free, immediate, online availability of research articles coupled with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment" (SPARC).

• Reuse: Content can be reused without need for subscription or payment.
• Retain: Users can keep their own copies of the content.
• Revise: Content can be modified or adapted.
• Remix: Content can be combined with other resources to create a new work.
• Redistribute: Users can share copies of the content with others.

Gold OA is immediate and unrestricted access to the journal article as published, usually with a Creative Commons licence.

Green OA refers to deposit of a pre-print or post-print of the manuscript to a repository, sometimes after an embargo period.

• OA publishing makes it possible for more people to have access to scholarship
• Works that are OA are cited more often and have greater impact
• Making research more available accelerates innovation