Good practices for university open-access policies

Contents Preface Drafting a policy Adopting a policy Implementing a policy   Filling the repository Talking about a policy   Revising this guide

• Last revised October 6, 2012. Version 0.8.

• Suggested short URL for this page = bit.ly/oa-good

• This version is not yet public. We're aiming for a public launch before Open Access Week 2012.

Preface

• This is a guide to good practices for university open-access (OA) policies. It's based on the type of policy adopted at Harvard, Stanford, MIT, U of Kansas, U of Oregon, Trinity, Oberlin, Wake Forest, Duke, U of Puerto Rico, Hawaii - Manoa, Columbia, Strathmore U, Emory, Princeton, Bucknell, Jomo Kenyatta, Utah State, Bifröst, Miami, California - San Francisco, and the U Massachusetts Medical School (listing some but not all, and in chronological order). However, it includes recommendations that should be useful to institutions with other sorts of OA policy as well.

• The guide is designed to evolve. No early version will cover every point on which good practices would be desirable or might be discernible. We plan to revise and enlarge it over time, building on our own experience and the experience of colleagues elsewhere. We welcome suggestions.

• The guide was in the works for several years before the first public version launched in October 2012. It's one small part of the larger effort described in Recommendation 4.2 of the ten-year anniversary statement of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (September 2012): Supporters of open access "should develop guidelines to universities and funding agencies considering OA policies, including recommended policy terms, best practices, and answers to frequently asked questions."

• We deliberately call our recommendations "good practices" rather than "best practices". On many points, there are multiple, divergent good practices. Good practices can change as circumstances change, and as we learn more. Good practices are easier to identify than best practices. And there can be wider agreement on which practices are good than on which practices are best. Future editions of the guide will display a wider range of good practices and a wider range of endorsing organizations than the first edition.

• The guide is written and edited by Stuart Shieber and Peter Suber. Stuart is a Professor of Computer Science and the Director of the Office for Scholarly Communication at Harvard University. Peter is the Director of the Harvard Open Access Project, Special Advisor to the Harvard Office for Scholarly Communication, and Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. The guide reflects their views as individuals, not necessarily those of Harvard University.
  • Emily Kilcer researched and wrote the section on Filling the repository. Emily is a Project Coordinator at the Harvard Office for Scholarly Communication and Research Assistant at the Harvard Open Access Project.

• The following colleagues and organizations have agreed to be listed but may not support every recommendation in the guide.
  • The guide has been written in consultation with these expert colleagues:
    • Ellen Finnie Duranceau, Program Manager, Scholarly Publishing and Licensing, MIT Libraries
    • Ada Emmett, 2012-2013 Visiting Associate Professor of Library and Information Science and Special Assistant to the Dean for Scholarly Communications, Purdue University; Scholarly Communications Program Head, University of Kansas (KU) Libraries, and Chair of the KU Open Access Task Force
    • Heather Joseph, Executive Director, Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
    • Iryna Kuchma, Open Access Programme Manager, Electronic Information for Libraries
    • Alma Swan, Convenor, Enabling Open Scholarship
  • The guide is endorsed by these projects and organizations:
    • Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR)
    • Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL)
    • Enabling Open Scholarship (EOS)
    • Harvard Open Access Project (HOAP)
    • Open Access Scholarly Information Sourcebook (OASIS)
    • Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)
    • SPARC Europe

• For a PDF version of any section of the guide, click the "printable version" link in the left sidebar.