The objective of Open Access is to provide free access to research output: articles, conference reports, doctoral dissertations and theses, other published or unpublished materials. The development of Open Access enhances opportunities to disseminate the results of research, ensure their worldwide visibility by providing members of the academic community with extensive access to global scientific resources. Open Access to scholarly publications is provided via open access journals, archives and repositories:
- Open Access journals perform peer review of articles and ensure free access to them by the global academic community. The journal-related costs consist of the costs of their peer review, preparation of articles, and support of workstations. The costs of publishing may be covered by educational and scientific institutions, professional and academic communities. The costs of some Open Access journals are covered by the authors who are publishing articles, their institutions or sponsors.
- Open Access archives or repositories are not involved in peer review of publications but ensure their global accessibility and visibility. Pre-prints that have not been peer reviewed, peer reviewed post-prints or publications of both types can be deposited in them. The repositories may be developed on the basis of an institutional principle, i.e. they may be owned either by a single institution or a network of institutions. Moreover, the archives of materials designated to a specific research subject may be established. In developing the Open Access archives and repositories, it is recommended to keep to the standards supporting the OAI-PMH [1] protocol and ensuring compatibility among the repositories.
The eIFL.net – the network of electronic information for libraries — promotes the development of Open Access. The eIFL-OA Program is aimed at accomplishing several objectives:
- building a global network of Open Repositories and Open Access journals;
- providing training and advice on Open Access policies and practices;
- motivating library professionals, scientists and scholars, educators and students to become the Open Access advocates and bring these ideas into practice.
The EIFL - OA coordinator in the Lithuanian Research Library Consortium is Gintarė Tautkevičienė. Should you have any questions regarding the EIFL - OA program or face any OA problems at your institution, do not hesitate to
contact gintare.tautkeviciene [eta] ktu.lt.