General information on Open Access

  • A very brief introduction to Open Access. Brief introduction of concepts by Peter Suber.
  • What is Open Access? provides overview, definitions and basic concepts in open access .
  • Open Access Scholarly Information Sourcebook (OASIS) aims to provide an authoritative ‘sourcebook’ on open access, covering the concepts, principles, advantages, approaches and means to achieving it. The sourcebook categories resources by audience, for example information for librarians, researchers and students. The site also highlights developments and initiatives from around the world, with links to diverse additional resources and case studies.
  • Open Access Directory (OAD) brings many open access related lists together under one place, browsing by categories and also searching through the search box is possible.
  • Open Access Overview. This is an introduction to open access (OA) for those who are new to the concept and provides useful key definitions.
  • Open Access Book. This book is written by Peter Suber and some parts are available for download.
  • Open Access :Opportunities and Challenges, a Handbook. This handbook presents the various views of major stakeholders and covers a wide range of issues relevant to open access, a very useful and timely contribution to the debate on open access

Open Access Declarations

Advocacy and Policy

  • UNESCO Policy Guidelines for the development and promotion of open access demystifies the concept of OA and provide concrete steps on putting relevant policies in place. It also seeks to provide capacity in advocacy and adoption of OA policies.
  • Open Access Policies Kit – Repositorio Cientifico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP) project created an Open Access Policies Kit, where institutions interested in promoting the success of their repositories and visibility of its scientific activity may find implementation plans and policy models for open access.
  • Registry of Open Access Repositories Mandatory Archiving Policies (ROARMAP) provides mandates from different institutions, the following types of mandates are listed, Thesis mandates, Funder mandates, Multi-institutional mandates, Sub-institutional mandates and Institutional mandates.
  • CARL Open Access Advocacy Toolkit.The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) Open Access Advocacy Toolkit provides general resources on OA, resources for researchers, students, and policy makers.The resource is useful for those engaged in OA advocacy in academic institutions.
  • What you can do to promote Open Access? This is a comprehensive list that provides information managers with tips on promoting OA within their institutions.

Copyright

Open Access Repositories

Open Repository Directories

Open Access Journals

Open Access Books

  • Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB). The primary aim of DOAB is to increase discoverability of Open Access books. Academic publishers are invited to provide metadata of their Open Access books to DOAB.
  • CGBooks. In partnership with Google Books,CGIAR provides full-text versions of agriculture books from the consortia of its research institutions.
  • College Open Textbooks. A collection of twenty-nine educational non-profit and for-profit organizations, affiliated with more than 200 colleges, is focused on driving awareness and adoptions of open textbooks to more than 2000 community and other two-year colleges. 
  • SpringerLink. Provides access to electronic agricultural related books under the 'Earth and Environmental Science' section.
  • Open Access Publishing in European Networks (OAPEN) is a collaborative initiative to develop and implement a sustainable Open Access publication model for academic books in the Humanities and Social Sciences. A few titles in earth sciences, geography, and environment can be downloaded.
  • Open Access Textbook. Provides a model to publishing open access textbooks and link to Open Access textbooks resources.
  • Wiley Open Access. Access is provided to open access materials mainly journals and a few books in the subjects of 'Food and Nutrition'.
  • InTech Open Science is a pioneer and world's largest multidisciplinary open access publisher of books covering the fields of Science, Technology and Medicine. Browse the Agriculture and Biological sciences and environmental sciences for agriculture related books.
  • Versita Open publishes scholarly books and journals ; the ebook collection is still growing.

Open Access in the World

Impact

Networks of Open Access Repositories