Abstract: This paper examines the development and access to knowledge through Open Access, propelled by emerging technologies in the publishing industry in Africa. The paper further discusses opportunities that present themselves through Open Access and the benefits to scholars worldwide. Challenges that face this practice are discussed and solutions suggested.
The paper argues that scholars require access to relevant scholarly literature to further the development of knowledge. This literature, which is rapidly increasing, is interdisciplinary, global, expensive, digital, and hidden behind technical walls to comply with license restrictions. Scholars with up-to-date technologies still have difficulty accessing the specialized literature that they need, while those in technologically poor institutions barely have any access at all. The current scholarly communication system needs urgent reforms to cope with the rapidly changing technological environment. Open Access, being the permanent online access to the full text of research articles for anyone, web-wide, is free, immediate, and handles multiple users.
This way, society as a whole benefits from an expanded and accelerated research cycle in which research can advance more effectively because researchers have immediate access to all the findings they need. Many research findings go unnoticed but with Open Access, they will be more visible and their usage and impact will increase, as the researchers too will find, access and use findings of others. Publishers likewise also benefit from the wider dissemination, greater visibility and higher journal citation of their articles.
Among the recommendations, the paper suggests that researchers, their institutions and their funders need to be informed and trained on the benefits of providing Open Access, together with establishing Institutional Open Access Repositories. Through this management of knowledge, scholars worldwide will access and benefit from each other’s findings.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 4/24/2009 10:50:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
