Open Access Week is coming to its close – at least at the Stockholm University Press blog. But you can still continue to follow the celebrations online all around the world. Use the hashtag #OAWeek16 on Twitter for the latest news all week.
Here we would like to offer you the views of two Swedish researchers on Open Access. Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson has a PhD in archeology at Uppsala University, and is currently working at the Swedish History Museum. Tiina Pursiainen Rosenberg is a Professor in Theatre Studies at Stockholm University.
Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson
How do you think that you and your peers can encourage further openness of access to research?
– Be an active user of open access publications, both in research and in teaching. Open Access publications are usually more widely circulated than subscription-based publications and by being an active user this will increase further. Open can still cost quite a lot of money so when applying for research grants remember to include a post for open access-related costs in your budget. Most of the main research funders already recognize this, but it is worth looking in to.
What kind of open access initiatives have you been a part of, and have they been of benefit to you?
– I would say that all research projects that I have taken part in during the last five years have had an expressed Open Access approach. Recently, within the ATLAS-project at Stockholm University the produced data will be published Open Access and this is stated as a main objective in the project. Within my current position as researcher in the so called Viking Phenomenon-project I share my time between Uppsala University and the Swedish History Museum. The museum is all about accessibility and making exhibitions and collections as open to the general public as possible. For a research project this means open data, creative common-licensing of images and open access publishing of results, as far as possible. The research funders, in this case the Swedish Research Council (VR) also provide financial support for open access publication. The work that is being done at Uppsala University follows the same directive. Open Access is a necessity for a humanistic project that aspires to have impact on how we interpret our past. The results from such a project should be both accessible and of manageable not only for academics but for everyone interested in these issues.
How do you think your university can support you to become more “open” with your research?
– For most researchers the main aim is to publish results as accessible as possible. At the same time it is of increasingly vital importance to publish in highly ranked journals and ditto publishers. Financial support for Open Access publication is of course always a great help. Even if this is not always possible the universities have agreements with some journals and publishers that can give you a discount when publishing open access. Help to navigate through the different options, like parallel- or hybrid publishing is also valuable. This can usually be found on the University website or by contacting the university libraries.
Tiina Pursiainen Rosenberg
How do you think that you and your peers can encourage further openness of access to research?
– Publishing Open Access makes one’s work immediately available online for everyone, worldwide. Once all open access publications are subject to high-quality peer review, editorial and production processes, academics are more willing to publish open access.
What kind of open access initiatives have you been a part of, and have they been of benefit to you?
– Stockholm University Press published my latest book as an open access publication and students can easily access the articles in the book since price barriers do not prevent them from getting access to the course reading they need.
How do you think your university can support you to become more open?
– In a way open access is a wonderful way to spread knowledge. Open access means availability and searchability of scholarly research and will, therefore, have a significant positive impact on dissemination of research. Universities should encourage their employees to publish Open Access.
Stockholm University Press Blog 