Empower yourself this Open Access Week 2020

Access to research is a real problem impacting both researchers and their audiences, particularly practitioners, policy makers and other researchers at underfunded institutions. What are the rights of a researcher in the publication and dissemination of their research? How can publishing choices promote equity and inclusion? This Open Access Week prompts researchers and research audiences alike to consider the challenges and opportunities of open access publishing, with content and events at the University of Melbourne and further afield. Organiser of OA events at the University of Melbourne, Dimity Flanagan (Manager, Scholarly Communications) encourages researchers to engage with the conversation in the following three ways.

1. Get insights from other researchers

Guest Posts on the Researcher@Library Blog 

Monday 19 – Thursday 22 October 2020 

This OA Week, Dimity Flanagan sits down with researchers from across the University of Melbourne to discuss Open Access and open scholarship. Find out how to:

• negotiate your rights as an author with publishers
• engage with the ethics of academic publishing
• start your journey as an open researcher
• connect with networks pursuing open research and reproducibility.

The Q&A series will be featured on this Researcher@Library Blog beginning Monday 19 October. Check in each morning of Open Access Week, and you can also subscribe for the weekly digest. 

2. Attend an online event (or two)

Webinar: Public Access and Your Thesis

Tuesday 20 October, 11am – 12pm (Book now) 

An essential session for researchers completing their PhD or Masters by Research thesis. This webinar covers the benefits and considerations of public access publishing, as well as 3rd party copyright, and other key steps in preparing a thesis for the University’s Open Access Repository.   

Webinar: Open Access 101

Wednesday 21 October, 1pm – 2pm (Book now) 

 Find out how you can ensure wider access to your research through sharing preprints, exploring new publishing outlets and depositing in an open access repository. All University staff and students welcome. 

AOASG Free Events

The Australasian Open Access Strategy Group has organised free online events featuring speakers from Australia, New Zealand and the US. Some events that may be of particular interest include:

• Preprints: a practical guide (presented by the co-founder of ASAP-bio, Jessica Polka)
• Indigenous voices, indigenous research and open access (panel discussion)
• Beyond Open Access – what should our aims be for full accessibility? 

View the full programme and register for events on the AOASG website. 

AOASG Open Access Week Events

3. Join the conversation

What are your thoughts on open access? Engage with open beyond Open Access Week by joining these online conversations:

• For those on Twitter, follow and tag @unilibrary and #OAWeek2020
• For those on Unimelb Slack, join the #open_scholarship channel for updates and local insights.

We look forward to seeing and hearing from you online this Open Access Week.