This past week was Open Access Week. In honor of that I’m sharing with you posts related to open access publishing. This list could be much longer, and just because open access week is coming to end doesn’t mean the conversation will (or need to) also end. Since I am focusing all of the “most useful” posts on open access this week, expect next week’s list to be twice as useful! Keep the conversation going by following us on Twitter: @TextandAcademic and also by leaving your thoughts in the comments area below. Happy writing!

What Is “Open Access”?
This is a great initiation to open access, what it is and why some researchers feel it is important. There is a short, eight-minute video that you absolutely have to watch that explains open access. It uses fun cartoons drawn by the brilliant minds at PhDComics.com to give visual meaning to the narrators’ words.

Questions surrounding open access licensing
An interesting read on open access licensing and issues surrounding the Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers release of their own model licenses. This article also explores if authors should have to chose which license to publish their work under, or if the publisher should define these.

How to make your own work open access
Wondering how to make your own work open access? As part of the Harvard Open Access Project (HOAP), Peter Suber compiled these helpful “notes” on publishing a peer-reviewed research article. This is a great starting point for anyone looking to publish their work as open access.

University research: If you believe in openness, stand up for it
This article, which was actually posted in late August, has already been shared over 1,000 times on Facebook. I can appreciate Erin McKiernan’s passion as she argues the case for publishing using an open access model. McKiernan mentions that her mentors and peers have told her that pledging to make all of her work openly available and forgoing publication in closed access journals is career suicide. Do you agree?

Exceptional Students Aren’t the Exception: How the Next Generation is Leading the Charge for Open Access
What do you do when faced with a problem, in this case a paywall to information? You create a call to action solution.

The pros and cons of Open Access
Kate Worlock explores questions of open access and the “serials crisis,” sustainability, publishing innovation, and impact on learned societies. I think she raises valid questions, especially if open access is a sustainable model.

How I Published My Scholarly Book With an Open Access CC-BY License
Another resource for you if you want to learn more about publishing your scholarly book using an open access model. I also found it interesting that although Jill Walker Rettberg has published some work as open access, she doesn’t believe all work should be. Her belief is that if the research was publicly funded than the work should be freely available.

[Open Access Interview] Margaux Larre-Perez – Young Researchers & Open Access: We Can Change the System Together!
This is a short video interview with a young scholar. She believes that the key to real change is for early career researchers to embrace this model. I really love her enthusiasm and think you will too!

I also think it’s important to note that predatory publishers do exist. Jeffrey Beall has been at the forefront of recognizing these publishers and establishing an on-going list of such predators. You can see his list here: Potential, possible, or probable predatory scholarly open-access publishers

I have many questions about open access; a couple of personal questions: Are you a supporter of the open access model? Have you published any of your works as open access? And a couple of general ones: Should authors have to pay to publish their work? Is this model sustainable?