Other OA developments
Copyright future copyright freedom: marking the 40th anniversary of the commencement of Australia's Copyright Act 1968
If copyright law does not liberate us from restrictions on the dissemination of knowledge, if it does not encourage expressive freedom, what is its purpose?
"Copyright future copyright freedom" offers the thinking and suggestions of some of the finest minds grappling with the future of copyright regulation. The Copyright Future Copyright Freedom conference held in 2009 at Old Parliament House Canberra brought together Lawrence Lessig, Julie Cohen, Leslie Zines, Adrian Sterling, Sam Ricketson, Graham Greenleaf, Anne Fitzgerald, Susy Frankel, John Gilchrist, Michael Kirby and others to share the rich fruits of their experience and analysis. Zines, Sterling and Gilchrist outline their roles in the genesis and early growth of Australian copyright legislation, enriching the knowledge of anyone asking urgent questions about the future of information regulation.
This work will soon be avaialbe on open access via the Sydney eScholarship Repository. The presentations are available at the conference site.
Digitize this book! : the politics of new media, or why we need open access now
For an intersting discussion on why we need open access have a look at Digitize this book! : the politics of new media, or why we need open access now by Gary Hall.
Open Access Week, October 18th - 24th, 2010
Open Access Week, a global event now entering its fourth year, is an opportunity for the academic and research community to continue to learn about the potential benefits of Open Access, to share what they've learned with colleagues, and to help inspire wider participation in helping to make Open Access a new norm in scholarship and research.
To find out about how you can participate please got to the Open Access Week web site
Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) News
Follow the latest news on developments within open access area from the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)
ARC LIEF grants
The ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities Funding Rules for 2011 are encouraging recipients to deposit "their data and any publications arising from a research Project in an appropriate subject and/or institutional repository". See section A3.3 of the Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities Funding Rules for funding commencing in 2011.
The Harvard initiative
In February 2008, the Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences approved a policy in support of Open access publishing. Each Faculty researcher would be required to grant to the University a non-exclusive license to make their research openly accessible through their Repository. The Harvard Open Access policy statement notes:
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University is committed to disseminating the fruits of its research and scholarship as widely as possible. In keeping with that commitment, the Faculty adopts the following policy: Each Faculty member grants to the President and Fellows of Harvard College permission to make available his or her scholarly articles and to exercise the copyright in those articles. In legal terms, the permission granted by each Faculty member is a nonexclusive, irrevocable, paid-up, worldwide license to exercise any and all rights under copyright relating to each of his or her scholarly articles, in any medium, and to authorize others to do the same, provided that the articles are not sold for a profit. The policy will apply to all scholarly articles written while the person is a member of the Faculty except for any articles completed before the adoption of this policy and any articles for which the Faculty member entered into an incompatible licensing or assignment agreement before the adoption of this policy. The Dean or the Dean's designate will waive application of the policy for a particular article upon written request by a Faculty member explaining the need.
To assist the University in distributing the articles, each Faculty member will provide an electronic copy of the final version of the article at no charge to the appropriate representative of the Provost's Office in an appropriate format (such as PDF) specified by the Provost's Office. The Provost's Office may make the article available to the public in an open-access repository.
The Office of the Dean will be responsible for interpreting this policy, resolving disputes concerning its interpretation and application, and recommending changes to the Faculty from time to time. The policy will be reviewed after three years and a report presented to the Faculty.
Funding agency policies
Significant in the argument for OA is public access to tax-payer funded research. Increasingly, funding bodies are placing OA conditions on research grants. You may, as a condition of funding from these agencies, be required to submit a copy of your article in your institutions (or subject based) Repository.
In Australia, the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council encourage researchers to make their work publicly available online. Their Joint Policy on the Dissemination of Research Findings states
The Australian Government makes a major investment in research to support its essential role in improving the wellbeing of our society. To maximise the benefits from research, findings need to be disseminated as broadly as possible to allow access by other researchers and the wider community.
Internationally, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires that researchers in receipt of funding must make a copy of their work publicly available -
SEC. 218. The Director of the National Institutes of Health shall require that all investigators funded by the NIH submit or have submitted for them to the National Library of Medicine's PubMed Central an electronic version of their final peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication, to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication: Provided, That the NIH shall implement the public access policy in a manner consistent with copyright law.
The Wellcome Trust similarly require an openly accessible copy of work funded by the Trust -
requires electronic copies of any research papers that have been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, and are supported in whole or in part by Wellcome Trust funding, to be made available through PubMed Central (PMC) and UK PubMed Central (UK PMC) as soon as possible and in any event within six months of the journal publisher's official date of final publication
The OECD Access to Research Data from Public Funding Recommendations, endorses the principles of open access to knowledge and advocates that member countries "develop policies and good practices related to the accessibility, use and management of research data"