This week (October 22-26), education and research institutions all over the world are celebrating Open Access Week. Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. If you are interested in learning more, the UI Libraries has created a guide to open access for UI researchers.

Many researchers at the University of Iowa have already embraced the open access movement and are making an effort to publish to open access journals when possible. Some faculty members, such as James J. Amos, M.D., Michael S. Lewis-Beck, and Kembrew McLeod are acting as open access advocates to get the word out to their colleagues.

How can you help support the open access movement?

• Join us on Monday, October 29 at 3pm to hear Don Share, Senior Editor of Poetry Magazine talk about how one of the leading poetry magazines in the country went Open Access.
• Take a few minutes to learn more about copyright and the importance of retaining rights to your published work.  What does the last publication agreement you signed allow you to do with your work?
• Deposit pre-prints, post-prints and associated data files in Iowa’s institutional repository: Iowa Research Online (ir.uiowa.edu).

Please contact the Sciences Library if you have any questions or if you’re interested in learning more about open access.