Open access literature is defined as "digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions." The primary target of the open access movement is the peer-reviewed research that is reported in scholarly journals. Articles in these journals cannot be accessed without a subscription and/or cannot be widely shared due to copyright restrictions.To overcome these barriers, authors can make their articles open access by either
1) depositing their work in an open access archive/repository or on their personal websites (“green OA”), or
2) publishing in an open access journal (“gold OA”).
These delivery mechanisms are discussed in greater detail below.
For more information, refer to these resources produced by Peter Suber, a leading open access advocate:
- A Very Brief Introduction to Open Access
- Open Access Overview (the archived longer version of the above)
- Open Access (the site for Suber's definitive book, with updates)