Texas Tech University

For Faculty

Participate in International Open Access Week

by Camille Thomas, Scholarly Communication and Copyright Librarian, Texas Tech University Libraries

What is Open Access?

Open Access literature is digital, online and free of charge. It upholds standards of peer review, copyright, quality, prestige and research impact. Common benefits of open access include increased citation rate, sharing with colleagues on a global scale, faster impact and more copyright freedom. For more information about open access, visit the Open Access research guide.

What is Open Access Week?

Open Access Week is an international week of action that takes place all over the world in late October. This year it will be held from October 24 - 30. SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) announced that the theme for 2016 will be "Open in Action." The theme highlights researchers, librarians, students and others who have made a commitment to working in the open. The Library will host a panel of TTU researchers sharing their experience from 1-3 p.m. October 25 in TLPDC Room 151 (register here). Refreshments will be served at an informal reception 3:30-5:30 p.m. October 28 in Library Room 309. The reception will also feature presentations about Library services and information about a bill currently in congress to grant fair access to research and technology.

Participate From Anywhere

TTU Libraries will be hosting on-campus events, but there is also a virtual Upload-A-Thon the week of October 24- 30. Send a citation and accepted version (peer-reviewed, unformatted manuscript) of your most recent article to your Personal Librarian. The Office of Scholarly Communication will look into the policies of the journal and make the deposit for you. It's 100% copyright compliant, all major publishers already allow this practice, it's very easy, and you can start to see how greater availability increases the exposure and impact of your work. On social media? Follow the Office of Scholarly Communication's Twitter and blog to learn more about open access at Tech.

Open Education Resources

Another way to participate is to use open resources in teaching all year round. Open Education Resources (OER) are also great for online courses because they usually have flexible copyright licenses, such as Creative Commons and are often free or low cost. They can include textbooks, course packs and other materials. This is a great way to help out students who love the convenience of online classes, but must still deal with the costs of higher education. Instructors are also able to revise and remix content to suit their teaching style. There have been several cases of higher student success and retention correlating to the use of open textbooks. For more information or to find resources for your subject area visit the OER research guide.

Got a question? Contact your Personal Librarian or the Scholarly Communication/Copyright Librarian at libraries.copyright@ttu.edu for any questions not answered in this post, or specific to your situation.