FSU observes Open Access Week 2015

Open Access Week at FSU

Florida State University Libraries encourage students and faculty to learn more about Open Access (OA) and join in the international conversation on social media using hashtags #WhatIsOA and #OAWeekFSU as the university observes Open Access Week Oct. 19-25.

“You may have heard of Open Access but aren’t really sure what it means and how it can impact your learning and research,” said Devin Soper, FSU’s Scholarly Communication Librarian. “FSU Libraries are working hard to be your home for all things Open Access and we are excited to be the catalyst for the OA movement at FSU.”

Open Access Week, a global observance that began in 2008, provides an opportunity for the academic and research community to learn about the potential benefits of open access.

The principle of open access is that publicly funded scholarship and research should be accessible to the general public. Universities around the world are supporting this principle through systems and services that provide unrestricted online access to peer-reviewed scholarly research, from scholarly journal articles to a growing number of theses, book chapters and scholarly monographs.

“Open Access provides a free and easily available platform on-line by which people can access scholarship. Access to one’s own publications is thus not limited to people at research universities,” said Mathew Goff, a professor of religion at FSU. “This increased access allows your work to be read and cited more, improving your scholarly reputation. The free access of OA formats will hopefully over the long term change the marketplace of academic publishing, forcing publishers who charge excessive prices to revise their pricing policies.”

This is the sixth year that Florida State has celebrated Open Access Week. For the occasion, the FSU Libraries are planning vibrant public art displays in Strozier Library, and will host a number of workshops related to OA publishing.

For more information, visit the university libraries blog and www.lib.fsu.edu/drs/publishing.