Benefits of Open Access

Benefits of Open Access

There are many benefits to making your work Open Access.  These include:

• Increased visibility of research outputs
• Increased reach of research to other researchers around the world
• Increased citation rates
• Increased the impact and readership of research
• Provide free online access to the public, previously unavailable
• Creates transparency

Open Access "..gives readers extraordinary power to find and make use of relevant literature, and that gives authors and their works vast and measurable new visibility, readership, and impact " Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002)

CC-BY Danny Kingsley &  Sarah Brown 
https://oaaustralasia.org/benefits-of-open-access/

Increased Visibility and Citation Advantage

The citation advantage of Open Access  has been well examined over last 15 years, with the majority of studies concluding that there is a significant citation advantage for OA articles. Recently a large scale analysis (over 300,000 publications) concluded that OA articles receive 18% more citations than otherwise expected taking into account age and discipline.  Green OA papers (i.e those in repositories such as VU Research Repository) were cited  even more i.e. 30% above expectations [Piwowar et all (2018)]

Reach more readers

A report commissioned by Nature found that open access articles were viewed three times more than articles that were only available to subscribers.  

Funders and Mandates

National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Open Access Policy

The NHMRC's Open Access Policy, updated in September 2022 (with full implementation for all grants by January 1, 2024), aims for immediate open access.

Key Requirements:

• Immediate Open Access: All peer-reviewed publications (journal articles and conference papers) arising from NHMRC-funded research must be made openly accessible immediately upon publication, with no embargo period permitted. This is a significant change from previous policies that allowed a 12-month embargo.
• Licensing: A Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence is generally required. This allows for wide use and sharing of the publication, with proper attribution. Exceptions may apply, such as for research concerning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities.
• Version: The open access version must be either the final published version (Version of Record) or the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM – the peer-reviewed and revised manuscript before publisher formatting).
• Metadata: A metadata record of the research output must be submitted to an institutional repository within 3 months of publication, regardless of whether the full text can be made open access.
• Compliance Pathways:
  • Journal based Access: Publishing in a fully open access journal or a journal covered by an institutional "Read and Publish" agreement, where the Version of Record is immediately open access under a CC BY license. While APCs (Article Processing Charges) may be incurred for some Gold OA journals, the NHMRC discourages paying APCs for hybrid journals not covered by institutional agreements.
  • Green Open Access: Depositing the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) in an open access institutional or subject repository. To enable immediate sharing without embargo under a CC BY license, authors must include a specific NHMRC rights retention statement in their submitted manuscript.
• Scope: The policy applies to peer-reviewed journal articles and peer-reviewed conference papers. While not mandatory, NHMRC strongly encourages authors to make scholarly books, book chapters, and other research outputs open access where possible.

Australian Research Council (ARC) Open Access Policy

The ARC's Open Access Policy, has been in effect for grants awarded since January 1, 2013

Key Requirements:

• Embargo Period: Any research output arising from ARC-funded research must be made openly accessible within a 12-month period from the date of publication.
• Metadata: The metadata for all research outputs must be made available to the public in an institutional repository as soon as possible, but no later than 3 months from the date of publication. This metadata must include the ARC Project ID and acknowledge the ARC as a funding source.
• Scope: The policy applies to a broader range of "research outputs," including:
  • Peer-reviewed journal articles.
  • Peer-reviewed conference papers published in full proceedings.
  • Books and book chapters.
  • Other written outputs that have undergone external review equivalent to traditional academic review.
  • Open access is strongly encouraged but not mandatory for research data and associated metadata.
• Licensing: The ARC's preference is for the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence, but it is acceptable to apply any of the options available through the Creative Commons suite of licences.
• Compliance Pathways: Research outputs can be made openly accessible either in an institutional repository (Green OA) or through other acceptable locations, such as a publisher's website if the published version is open access with an appropriate Creative Commons license (Gold, Hybrid or Diamond OA).
• Non-Compliance: If a publication cannot be made open access within the 12-month period, or at all, an explanation must be provided in the Final Report.

Plan S

Plan S is an international open access initiative launched by cOAlition S, a consortium of research funders. Its primary aim is to ensure that all scholarly publications resulting from publicly or privately funded research are made openly available without embargo.  Plan S consists of one target and 10 principles.

Funders that are part of cOAlition S include:

• World Health Organisation
• Gates Foundation
• Wellcome Trust
• Research Council of Finland
• European Commission

A full list of organisations endorsing Plan S