Open Access means providing research outputs online for free, facilitating faster dissemination and discovery of knowledge.
The Leddy Library supports you in making your research Open Access by helping you choose a path to OA, understand policies, and provide OA publishing options through our license agreements and institutional repository. We also support faculty in publishing journals, books, and conferences with the Library Open Publishing Service.
For more information on the intersection of Open Access and other scholarly publishing topics, please view recordings from our Leddy Library Open Access Lightning Talks event, held in celebration of International Open Access Week 2024. Specific topics include:
- Leddy Library Services: Scholarship and publishing
- Copyright and Open Access
- Creating a peer-reviewed Open Access journal
- The power of OER and how the Office of Open Learning can get you started
- The changing landscape of journal publishing: Open Access agreements
- Open Access updates in the scholarly communications realm
Why go Open Access?
Making your research Open Access makes it available to everyone without any cost and paywalls. This can offer several benefits:- Increased visibility and readership: OA publications are more discoverable and accessible, which can lead to a wider readership of your research.
- Citation advantage: Many studies have shown that OA publications are cited more frequently. A meta-analysis found that OA articles received 18% more citations on average, a direct result of the works being available for more people to read and cite.
- Greater impact: A wider readership means that it is easier to use, and build on your research. This includes not only other academics, but also folks in policy, industry, and other areas of society – many of whom do not have access to academic libraries.
- Compliance: Funding agencies, governments, and institutions (including UWindsor) require or encourage Open Access as a condition of funding.
Library contributions to Open Access initiatives
In addition to services, education, and consultation on Open Access at our local campus, the Leddy Library supports regional, national, and global initiatives that increase access to research.- Supported initiatives and projects
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- Canadiana
- Érudit
- OurDigitalWorld
- ORCID
- SPARC
- DOAJ
- SHERPA/RoMEO
- BioMed Central
- SCOAP3
- COAR