Open Access Week, the global event to promote free, immediate, online access to research, has been declared for October 18-24, 2010. Now entering its fourth year, Open Access Week is organised by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), with expert guidance from an international panel of Open Access leaders. The event provides an opportunity for the worldwide academic and research community to continue to learn about the potential benefits of Open Access (OA), to share what they’ve learned with colleagues, and to inspire wider participation in helping to make Open Access a new norm in scholarship and research.
In 2009, Open Access Week spurred the announcement of actions including expanded open-access publication funds, the adoption of institution-wide open-access policies, and the release of new reports on the societal and economic benefits of OA. This year’s OA Week preparations started with a challenge to researchers from Dr. Philip E. Bourne, Professor of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California San Diego and Founding Editor-in-Chief of PLoS Computational Biology. In a video posted to the OA Week website, Bourne calls on scholars to think beyond free and ready access to the literature – made possible by Open Access – and consider how technology may be deployed to advance research, to truly mine the increasing amount of available literature.
Challenges like Dr. Bourne’s, and responses to them, will be highlighted across global efforts in conjunction with the Week. Details may be posted or linked on the Open Access Week Web site by October 10, 2010.
The new Open Access Week Web site, at http://www.openaccessweek.org, details how participants across sectors – from research funders and producers to students and libraries – have taken advantage of the event to advance Open Access, and offers ideas for 2010. Organisations and individuals planning to participate or interested in more information about Open Access Week 2010 should register on the website for access to regional and global contacts and resources.
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