How is JCU Library Advancing Open Access?

On the left a female student with long brown hair and a black backpack stands in front of an open lock through which you can see a city street scene with people. To the right it says - International Open Access Week: Community over Commercialisation, October 23-29, 2023, #OAWeek
International Open Access Week 2023

Open Access Week 2023 (October 23-29)

Open Access Week is celebrated in October every year to raise awareness of the importance of making information freely available to people who need it. Research, education and data should not be hidden or locked behind a paywall, where only people who can afford it can access it, but rather made openly available so that it can benefit all.

Open Access principles and practices allow for the free online distribution of full text research outputs (like journal articles and reports) to everyone. Benefits include equitable access to the latest research, helping researchers connect with new audiences and enhancing research transparency. 

Open Access Week is a time to share some of the ways that JCU Library Services helps promote and enable Open Access to research and education for our University community and beyond. 

Open Access Week Awards

Each year JCU Library facilitates Open Access Awards, in collaboration with stakeholders in the Research Division and the Academy to recognise excellence in open scholarship. 
  • ECR Open Access Champion 2023 Award.
    Presented to the JCU Early Career Researcher who, in the opinion of an expert judging panel, has made the greatest contribution to Open Access through their research publications within the previous three years.
  • HDR Open Access Advocate Award 2023.
    A competition open to all JCU Higher Degree by Research candidates, with prizes awarded for the best response to the 2023 International Open Access Week theme Community over Commercialisation. This year, there are two categories:
    • The best scholarly/informational communication (written or recorded) 
    • The best artistic response (in any format, e.g. poem, cartoon, etc).
  • Open Education Champion 2023 Award.
    The 2023 inaugural Open Education Champion Award, presented to the JCU staff member who has made the greatest contribution during the JCU Open Education Initiative pilot. The winning staff member demonstrated Open Educational values, made a significant reduction of textbook costs for students, and promoted excellence in Open Educational Resource adoption and development.

Learn more about Open Access 

During Open Access Week there are a number of ways that you can learn more about Open Access.
  • Have your Open Access enquiries answered by expert Library staff at Open Access Q&A drop-in sessions (Tues 24 – Thurs 26 Oct) – register now!
  • Check out our Open Access Library Guide which is full of information on Open Access models, NHMRC and ARC Open Access policies, Read and Publish Agreements for 2023. 
  • Check out the Open Access Week webinars organised by Open Access Australasia.

Every week is Open Access Week at JCU!

The University values and supports intellectual discoveries, recognising that knowledge has the power to change lives and that through the adoption of Open Scholarship practices it will contribute to the wide and rapid dissemination of scholarly outputs.

The JCU Open Scholarship Policy has been developed in accordance with guidelines and practices from the following organisations and principles:
  • The Open Access policies of the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
  • The Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) Statement on Open Scholarship
  • Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC)
  • F.A.I.R (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).

Read and Publish Agreements 

Read and Publish Agreements (RAPs) are a pathway to publishing research as Open Access. These publisher agreements take the fees the Library already pays for journal subscriptions, and repurposes them to cover both reading and publishing in select lists of journals provided by publishers as part of each agreement. As at 2023, JCU has signed 15 Read and Publish Agreements to benefit JCU Researchers.

Learn more about Read and Publish Agreements. 

    JCU Open eBooks

    Since 2021, JCU Library has assisted in the creation and publication of 15 open eBooks (also known as open educational resources), with many more in production. These resources can be found on the JCU Open eBook platform. JCU Open eBooks are created and reviewed by university staff and licensed under an open licence.

    For a  selection of Open eBooks curated by librarians see our newly launched discovery collection.

      ResearchOnline@JCU 

      The ResearchOnline@JCU repository is an online archive for the collection, preservation, and dissemination of JCU research. It contains journal articles, theses, book chapters, photographs and other kinds of research outputs. JCU Library encourages all authors to deposit an Open Access version of their outputs (i.e., author accepted manuscript) into ResearchOnline@JCU, when the published version is not freely available. This is called green Open Access publishing and is in accordance with the University’s Open Scholarship Policy. 


      Do you have questions about Open Access? Library staff are available to assist you - just follow the links from the Connect with us webpage.

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