2019 Open Access Week: “Open for Whom? Equity in Open Knowledge”

Open Access Week is a globally recognized event that has been held since 2010.  It offers an opportunity for the academic and research community to educate others about the potential benefits of Open Access, to share new developments with colleagues, and to help inspire wider participation resulting in making Open Access a new norm in scholarship and research.

The term open access describes materials that are freely accessible online and easily discoverable in an Internet search.  Providing open access to research and scholarship has become a worldwide movement serving the mission of higher education and research.  In response to pressure from authors, most traditional journal publishers allow authors to post open access copies of their peer-reviewed manuscripts on their websites or disciplinary or institutional repositories.  Many peer-reviewed journals publish all their content open access.  Researchers and scholars are now pushing for open access to research data and open access to scholarly monographs. 

Open access is strategic for the USGS.  Open access disseminates as broadly as possible works authored by the USGS community, encouraging use and increasing citations and impact.  Open access also enables the USGS community to access works authored elsewhere around the world, many of which the Bureau Library cannot afford to purchase.

OA Week is an invaluable chance to connect the global momentum toward open sharing with the advancement of policy changes on the local level. Open Access Week is a key opportunity for all members of the community to act to keep this momentum moving forward.

For more information on 2019 OA Week (October 21 to 27), see http://openaccessweek.ning.com/