Open Access to publications
The basic idea of open access is to make scientific publications freely accessible to anyone, regardless of their of their background, residence or education level. Usage includes reading, downloading, copying and disseminating scientific research findings online under the prerequisite that the source is properly cited and that content is not distorted.
Open access promotes fast and effective research dissemination and gives great advantages to the authors who generally keep their copyright and can use their material according to their own needs, e.g. for teaching,
Other benefits include:
- Promotion of knowledge: everyone can get access to research results worldwide, even in poor regions.
- Improved conditions for researchers: researchers can easily access other people's research.
- Repetition of experiments can be avoided, results can be extended and new partnerships established.
- Easier to link performance to social media, providing even greater spread.
- Quicker publication: Between the article is accepted and published will be shorter.
- Taxpayers who pay a large portion of the world's research can take part of the results.
- Innovation: Access to research promotes innovation and can lead to new ideas and products.
Most funding agencies support open access and require that research funded by them should be made openly available.