What is Open Access?
Open access (OA) scholarship is available online and can be read for free. It is often available for use and sharing without copyright and licensing restrictions commonly placed on published works. By making their work available in this manner, authors ensure that the broadest possible audience can read and use it, without limiting it to only those who are affiliated with research libraries or who can afford costly journal subscriptions.
Open access is not defined by a particular business model or type of content. Rather, open access is an approach to sharing one's work with the wider world. To learn more about open access, consult the resources below.
For more information about how to find an open access publisher or journal for your work, consult "Finding Reputable Journals and Publishers."
A free e-book (available in a variety of formats) covering the basics of open access, including definitions, history, business models, funding, and much more.
A comprehensive overview of what open access is, how it is implemented, and suggestions for further reading.
Finding Open Scholarship
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
DOAJ is a community-curated online directory that indexes and provides access to high quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals.
Open Access Books Published by the University of Michigan Press
The University of Michigan Press is a leader in open access book publishing, and makes hundreds of its titles available as openly accessible ebooks.
Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB)
Discovery platform for thousands of open access books from hundreds of publishers.
Full text collection of openly available books in the humanities and social sciences.
Use the power of Google to search for scholarship online.