Open Access Resources
In this section of the Resource Hub, our aim is enable access to online and open access resources. This will incorporate details of free to access subject portals; research materials and a growing directory of open access journals and books. Please explore the following sections for further details.
What is Open Access?
Open Access (OA) in its broadest sense represents a movement of academic research output freely available for research, teaching and study purposes via the Internet. Ideally, OA resources should also be in the public domain and freely accessible to members of the public, without the traditional licensing restrictions associated with academic journals. For OA journals and resources, licensing is normally granted under on OA compatible Creative Commons (CC) licence which will allow their content (e.g. OA journal articles) to be accessed, re-distributed and re-used to a greater extent than before. Quality and standards are important elements in OA Journal publishing and the majority of OA Journals will conform to the need for peer review of potential content prior to publication.
In relation to OA journals, there are have been differing OA business models adopted by OA journals located both within different subject disciplines and also within different countries. Perhaps the most common differences are reflected in truly open OA journals which make all of their content freely available, often referred to as the 'Gold' Route; and some of the more traditional subscription/licence based journals, who may offer either a delayed open access approach whereby older additions are made available as OA after a period of embargo; or they may offer the option of publishing new articles as OA alongside their traditional licensed content if the author(s) of the article or their institution(s) agree to pay the necessary fees. OA article publishing through institutional or subject-based repositories is often referred to as the 'Green' route.
Open Access at UEL
Accessing Open Access Journals at UEL
OA journals at UEL are currently accessible via the Library Search. Further Open Access resources are also available via the Open Access Directories and Resources detailed below.
Open Access Directories and Resources
There is a growing number of OA resources available online which can help with providing materials for your research and teaching needs. A selection of these resources are available as follows:
Base is an international search engine which provides access to open access academic web resources.
The DOAJ represents a searchable directory of open access journals. The Directory now contains in excess of 5,000 journals and allows searches for journal title and individual articles in a number of languages. The subject coverage of the DOAJ incorporates the majority of major academic subject areas.
The DOAB has similar objectives to the DOAJ but is focused on providing a directory of open access books which have been peer reviewed to an academic standard.
OAIster is search facility, originally developed at the University of Michigan but now owned by OCLC and made available through the OCLC WorldCat service. OAIster is a large union catalogue of several million records of harvested metadata supporting OAI-compliant digital resources and open access repositories.
Now with over 2600 listings, the OpenDOAR directory aims to provide a detailed list of international academic open access institutional and subject-based repositories. OpenDOAR is currently hosted by the University of Nottingham.
The Registry of Open Access Repositories has been established by the University of Southampton to encourage open access by developing an up-to-date registry of open access repositories both in the UK and internationally.
OATD represents in internal index to over 1.6 million open access electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). The OATD is international in scope including over 800 colleges, universities, and research institutions from around the world.
Recommend an Open Access Journal
UEL staff and students wishing to recommend suggestions for open access journals which could be included in Library Search are welcomed and encourage to complete our online form entitled, "Recommend an Open Access Journal." Alternatively, you can also contact your relevant Subject Librarian or please contact us via email at: open-access@uel.ac.uk.
