Deakin symposium to explore vexed issue of Open Access

A Deakin University forum provides an opportunity to explore the hotly debated issues surrounding access to research.

The forum will tackle the challenging question - how do we make research freely, immediately and permanently available online to anyone via Open Access.

Deakin University's Librarian Ms Anne Horn said Open Access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge and free of most copyright licensing restrictions.

"It is compatible with peer review and many Open Access initiatives for scientific and scholarly literature insist on its importance," she said.

"What makes Open Access possible is the technology of the internet and the consent of the author or copyright holder.

"The question is not whether scholarly literature can be made costless, but whether the costs can be met through business models that don't create barriers to access."

The forum to be held to celebrate Open Access week on Thursday 21 October 2010 will feature keynote speaker Professorial Fellow, Victoria University, Professor John Houghton, who has examined the economic implications of the Open Access and other scholarly publishing models.

"Studies in Australia, the UK, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and the US suggest that not only are Open Access publishing models lower cost than the subscription or toll access model, but they also have wider cost implications through access and authentication system and library handling cost savings," he said.

"They have even wider economic and social benefits, as open access to the findings of research enables us to realise higher returns on public investment in research by making it more widely and freely available and maximising its impact."

Ms Horn said the forum would give researchers, academics, publishers and librarians the opportunity to learn more about Open Access and to debate Open Access issues in Australia.

"It is pertinent for Deakin's Library to host this forum on Open Access," she said.

"A library's core business is to make information accessible, and Open Access is an inclusive approach that ensures research publications are available to the global community for the advancement of knowledge.

"Library staff add their expertise in assuring access and preservation.

"Furthermore, our research repository, Deakin Research Online, opens a new avenue for Deakin researchers to showcase their research and to engender collaborative projects with researchers around the world."

Ms Horn said the debate between advocates of Open Access and subscription/publishers has been lively, with each side pushing its case via a number of studies, reports and initiatives.

"Academics occupy the uneasy middle ground, unsure of what open access may mean for peer review and highly concerned about breaching copyright agreements," she said.

"Globally, many research funders and institutions have mandated Open Access.

"There is growing support among academics and research funding bodies for the provision of facilities which apply the Open Access ethos to a wide range of scholarly outputs not just journal publications.