Open Access Publishing Support & ScholarWorks

UNESCO defines materials as open access (OA) if they have the following qualifications: 

• "its content is universally and freely accessible, at no cost to the reader, via the Internet or otherwise;
• the author or copyright owner irrevocably grants to all users, for an unlimited period, the right to use, copy, or distribute the article, on condition that proper attribution is given;
• it is deposited, immediately, in full and in a suitable electronic form, in at least one widely and internationally recognized open access repository committed to open access."

For you as an author:

• OA publications receive a wider audience, increasing the potential for more readers and citations.
• OA  publications become immediately discoverable and accessible on the open web.

Contributing OA works to repositories like our institutional repository ScholarWorks, is also an important way to meet grant funding requirements that

From a global perspective:

Open Access (OA) has the potential to shift the academic publishing world by creating a more equitable way to share and access scholarly work at no cost. OA presents many advantages to the global academic community:

• Unlocks high-quality research for scholars, students, and researchers around the world who don't have the fin
• Promotes the active engagement of scholars from underrepresented regions, nations, language groups, and ethnicities that have traditionally been excluded from the academic publishing paradigm
• Allow for a global audience of scholars, researchers, and students to engage with high-quality, peer-reviewed material that would otherwise be locked behind a subscription paywall. 

For more benefits of OA publishing, visit the links below:

The Directory of Open Access Journals and Ulrich's Periodical Directory are two helpful resources for locating OA journals for your publications. If you are not finding what you need there, please consult with Michaela Keating- mckeating@fullerton.edu

While predatory publishing can be a concern for those looking to publish OA, there are many resources available to help you evaluate journals and publishers. The resources linked below can help you determine if a journal of interest is suitable for your research: