Open access

Rare card · No. 71931

Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre open access, barriers to copying or reuse are also reduced or removed by applying an open license for copyright, which regulates post-publication uses of the work. The main focus of the open access movement has been on peer reviewed research literature, and more specifically on academic journals. This is because: such publications have been a subject of serials crisis, unlike newspapers, magazines and fiction writing. The main difference between these two groups is in demand elasticity: whereas an English literature curriculum can substitute Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone with a public domain alternative, such as A Voyage to Lilliput, an emergency room physician treating a patient for a life-threatening urushiol poisoning...

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