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Open Access - Open Educational Resources: Benefits

Open Access

 Open Access is valuable because it:

  • removes all access barriers, providing completely free and unrestricted access to all
  • provides equitable distribution of information world-wide, regardless of social or economic status
  • provides immediate availability of research output
  • increases visibility and impact of research
  • increases usage of research results and leads to more citations
  • enhances reputation of authors and institutions
  • provides a platform for compliance with funder requirements
  • attracts potential collaborators
  • offers libraries a more financially attractive alternative to the traditional journal subscription model, where costs have increased significantly faster than the rate of inflation

Disadvantages

  • Can be expensive if author paying Article Publishing Charges (APC)
  • Quality concerns - there are predatory journals & publishers
  • Some journals struggle with finances
  • Some access issues in developing countries

Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources benefits include:

  • Access to diverse learning materials
  • Promotes creativity and sharing pedagogy
  • Allows resources to be improved and updated
  • Immediately available upon publication
  • Provides course content ranging from syllabi to test banks
  • Enhanced content
  • Scalability

Disadvantages

  • Challenges with technology
  • Issues related to quality
  • Long term sustainability
  • Demographics and overarching equitability

OA/OER - Creative Commons Licenses

The vast majority of Open Access and Open Educational Resources have what is called a Creative Commons Licenses. These licenses allow creators to designate how their work may be used by others, with the point being to support equitable research and educational resources for all.  Creative Commons Licenses are built on the following 5 principles.

 

As a content creator you decide which license to use, add it to your work, and then publish it to your website, your institutional website, a repository, or OA/OER resource site. Once done is is available for reuse around the world within the parameters set by you.

For more information about the Creative Commons please visit our guide Copyright, Fair Use, and More. And feel free to contact cgruwell@uwf.edu for questions and assistance.

Image from Making Open Educational Resources: A Guide for Students by Students by Ashlyne O'Neil, et. al. a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.