Penn Libraries are proud to participate in the worldwide celebrations for International Open Access Week, an initiative held annually to inspire global momentum toward the open sharing of knowledge to address important social issues, happening October 21-27. This year’s theme, “Community Over Commercialization,” continues the emphasis of Open Access Week 2023 with a call to action to prioritize approaches to open scholarship that serve the best interests of the public and the academic community.

A hallmark value of libraries since their earliest days has been to encourage the free and open circulation of knowledge, information, and ideas. But the ways that it is now possible to create and disseminate ideas—not just in the conventional form of printed books and journals, but in myriad ways on the internet—have grown increasingly complex and costly to consume. Journal articles, data, educational resources, and other published research outputs are commonly distributed by large conglomerate vendors like Elsevier, EBSCO, and ProQuest, whose subscription-based platforms make these outputs searchable, among other services valuable to research libraries. These vendors set their own prices and access conditions for their products. As a result, disparities in access to information have also grown, limited to those with the financial and infrastructural means to acquire access to these platforms.

Open access advocates seek to challenge this state of affairs, arguing that free access to information and unrestricted use of electronic resources is vital to open and equitable scholarship. Recently, research funders, including federal agencies, have joined the call for open access by requiring that research they have funded be made freely accessible to the general public.

Choosing to share research outputs through open access means can have tangible benefits for both researchers and their audiences. Open access means that scholarship—including cutting-edge scientific experiments and impactful research studies—can quickly reach a wider audience who might not otherwise be able to afford to pay for expensive journal or database subscriptions. As a result:

• Ideas can spread rapidly and stimulate new research, which in turn impacts real world problem-solving in the form of governmental policies, treatments for health problems, and economic investment in promising new technologies, to give just a few examples.
• Wider access can increase the likelihood of citation and recognition for good quality and impactful research.
• Knowledge gaps experienced globally by institutions and individuals with fewer material resources can be bridged.
• Duplication of research effort can be minimized, reducing waste of time and financial resources.

For Open Access Week 2024, Penn Libraries will host several workshops connected to open access and avenues for sharing your scholarship and research outputs. Registration is required for all events.

October 22, 2 p.m.: Manage Your Research Identity with ORCID

October 23, 2 p.m.: FAIR Data in ScholarlyCommons

October 24, noon: Publishing Reimagined

October 24, 2 p.m.: Preparing for Sharing: The Future of Research Under the Nelson Memo