Open Access Week: 25-31 Oct

Open Access: It Matters How We Open Knowledge: Building Structural Equality 

This year’s Open Access Week organised by Sparc runs from 25-29 October 2021. To celebrate, we are running a series of blogposts relating to Open Access and the wider movement towards Open Research, with contributions from researchers working in the area. 

The benefits of open access can include: 

• wider dissemination of research, 
• faster advancement of science through easier reuse and validation of findings, 
• citation advantage, 
• greater opportunities for collaboration. 

The University of Wolverhampton is committed to the promotion of open research and has three policies that directly address ideals of open research: 

Open Access Publications Policy – this policy details good practice and the obligations of University of Wolverhampton researchers in respect of sharing publications 

Research Data Management Policy – this policy indicates obligations of University of Wolverhampton researchers and good practice in the management of data in research projects 

Open Research Statement – this statement indicates good practice for open research, covering open data, open software, and other methods for disseminating research outputs beyond articles and books. 

During the week: 

• Monday: Dr Sarah Dar explores the need to build greater structural equity in open access to ensure that the movement is open to all. 

• Tuesday: Nushrat Khan talks about the findings of a research project that looked into how open datasets are being reused by researchers and what recommendations. 
• Wednesday: Dr Anita Z. Goldschmied tells us about the Journal of Health and Social Care Improvement. 
• We will also explore benefits of open access to theses, alternate publication routes for open research, persistent identifiers and current issues in the open access landscape. 

Check back each day at the Library News Blog for more.

Stuart Bentley

Scholarly Communications Librarian