"Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free to readers, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. What makes it possible is the Internet and the consent of the author or copyright-holder" (Peter Suber). There are two ways to make research open access:

1) publishing in an open access journal or

2) depositing a previously published article in an open access repository.

UC Statements on Open Access

The UC Office of Scholarly Communication essay What is Open Access? provides a brief overview of open access that explains the basics - author-archived open access (green), publisher-hosted open access (gold), the benefits of open access, open access policies, open access repositories, and of open access books and journals.

 

Pathways to Open Access (February 27, 2018) - prepared by the University of California Libraries.

Negotiating Journal Agreements at UC: A Call to Action (June 21, 2018).

OA2020.us (U.S. signatories) - read why U.S. institutions, including UC campuses, support the large-scale transition to open access.

What's Behind OA2020?: Accelerating the Transiton to Open Access with Intropection and Repurposing Funds (2018) - an article by UC librarians and the Chair of UCOLASC, explaining OA2020.

Declaration of Rights and Principles to Transform Scholarly Communication (April 13, 2018) - a document of the University Committee on Library and Scholarly Communication (UCOLASC).

More Information About Open Access