The University Libraries are committed to supporting open access research as an alternative to traditional, subscription scholarship. Open Access refers to research that is:

• Immediately and freely available to anyone upon publication

• Free of many copyright restrictions that prevent reuse and repurposing by others

This guide offers tools for locating and using open access resources and for openly publishing and archiving your own scholarly output.

You've worked hard to research new topics and to create output to share with the scholarly community. Why should you share the results of your work openly with others?

Communicating the results of your research is an essential part of the research lifecycle. When research is available only through a subscription or by purchase, it may be inaccessible to policymakers, the media, independent researchers, institutions with limited funding, or practitioners. However, work that is published open access or is archived in a repository can be located, used, built-upon, and cited by anyone, regardless of affiliation. Open access can increase the visibility and impact of a work and accelerate scientific progress.

• Gold Open Access
  • Research that is immediately made freely available upon publication on the publisher's website, often with limited copyright restrictions. Gold open access is typically funded by society memberships, philanthropic or institutional support, or author processing fees (APCs). 
• Green Open Access
  • Research that is published in a closed access publication but has been archived and shared to provide free access. Green open access is typically made available through a repository or author's website, sometimes after an embargo period. Many publishers allow researchers to archive and share certain versions of their work but often limit sharing of the final published version.