Open Access

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'Open Access Week' comes to a close, but the movement continues to grow

Open Access Week just came to a close. This was the 6th annual anniversary of a global event that is becoming more popular every year as the open access movement continues to grow and spread around the world - especially in the field of medicine and bioinformatics. Read More »

'Open Access' & Health Information

For a long time, the 'Open Access' movement has primarily campaigned for free and unrestricted access to scholarly information and research articles via the Internet. However, as the movement has continued to spread and pick up momentum, it has shifted its focus to also now include books, monographs, and other media.

Instead of publishers using copyright to restrict access and use of information, new open access licenses now allow authors to retain ownership of their works and grant the public the right to access and creatively reuse their works. New licences, such as those developed by Creative Commons, are now used by many open access publishers like the Public Library of Science (PLoS) and BioMed Central (BMC).

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6 Reasons People with Disabilities Should Use Linux

Often, when issues of accessibility and assistive technology are brought up among people with disabilities, the topics center around the usual issues: How can I afford this device? Is it available for me? Will it meet my needs? How will I receive support? Open source solutions, including any Linux-based operating system, are rarely, if ever, considered. The problem isn't with the solution; instead, it is a result of lack of information and awareness of FOSS and GNU/Linux in the disability community, and even among people in general. Here are six solid reasons people with disabilities should consider using Linux...

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8 Awesome Science Resources That You Can Access for Free Online

BEC Crew | Science Alert | March 11, 2016

Fortunately, the custodians of content are finally figuring out that if you give people easy access to the things they want (for free if possible, please), everybody wins, and if not, well, someone will probably find a less 'legal' way to get it out there instead. Knowledge is everything, and we want all of it, now, and who can blame us? So we've come up with a list of great, free online repositories that offer everything from historical documents by your favourite scientist to beautiful sci-fi posters to put on your wall. If you've got suggestions for other online resources, email us or post a comment on Facebook so we can spread the (free) science love...

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A Dubious Diagnosis: Will New Yorkers Really Be Able To See Their Health History Online?

Katie Drummond | The Verge | May 1, 2013

The 19.5 million residents of New York State will soon have access to heaps of their own health data — the results of every blood test, the details on every prescription — courtesy of a groundbreaking web portal that'll make obtaining medical records as easy as online banking. Read More »

Aaron Swartz's 'Guerilla Open Access Manifesto'

DJ Pangburn | Motherboard | August 14, 2013

“Information is power,” reads the first sentence of the Guerilla Open Access Manifesto, written by Aaron Swartz and other free information activists. Read More »

Academia.edu Founder On Open Access Dreams

Richard Price | Times Higher Education | May 8, 2014

Discoveries by laypeople are rare but free access to research results would increase the likelihood, says Richard Price

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Academic Journals: The Most Profitable Obsolete Technology In History

Jason Schmitt | The Blog | December 23, 2014

The music business was killed by Napster; movie theaters were derailed by digital streaming; traditional magazines are in crisis mode--yet in this digital information wild west: academic journals and the publishers who own them are posting higher profits than nearly any sector of commerce...

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Academic Pirates Trade Science Articles

Mimi Szeto | The Varsity | November 5, 2009

Those in the medical field may be illegally distributing academic journal articles, a recent report reveals. Read More »

Agricultural Biotechnology 'Should Be Open Source'

T. V. Padma | SciDev.Net | September 13, 2012

Open source biotechnology, through which biotechnology inventions are made freely available for others to use and improve upon, could help developing countries overcome hurdles created by stringent intellectual property rights (IPRs), a study says. Read More »

All Documents at Canada's Science and Tech Museums' to Be 'Open by Default' by Fall, CEO Pledges

Don Butler | Ottawa Citizen | June 13, 2016

In a government town like Ottawa, where information has traditionally been jealously guarded, what Alex Benay is proposing could trigger a bout of cognitive dissonance. According to Benay, president and CEO of the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation, almost all documents generated by the corporation’s three national museums – Science and Technology, Aviation and Space, and Agriculture and Food – will soon be available to the public through an online portal...

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All Scientific Papers to Be Free by 2020 Under EU Proposals

Nadia Khomami | The Guardian | May 28, 2016

All publicly funded scientific papers published in Europe could be made free to access by 2020, under a “life-changing” reform ordered by the European Union’s science chief, Carlos Moedas. The Competitiveness Council, a gathering of ministers of science, innovation, trade and industry, agreed on the target following a two-day meeting in Brussels last week...

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All Scientific Papers to Be Free by 2020 Under EU Proposals

Nadia Khomami | The Guardian | May 28, 2016

All publicly funded scientific papers published in Europe could be made free to access by 2020, under a “life-changing” reform ordered by the European Union’s science chief, Carlos Moedas. The Competitiveness Council, a gathering of ministers of science, innovation, trade and industry, agreed on the target following a two-day meeting in Brussels last week. The move means publications of the results of research supported by public and public-private funds would be freely available to and reusable by anyone.

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AMIA’s Doug Fridsma: Time for the Feds to Truly Open Up Patient Records to Fully Interoperable Data Use

Mark Hagland | Healthcare Informatics | June 13, 2016

Access to information and the ability to integrate and use information has changed how individuals book travel, find information about prices and products, and compare and review services. Information can empower individuals, but health care has lagged behind other fields. It is unconscionable that in 2016 most patients are unable to obtain their entire medical record unless they print it out. While progress has been made in the last several years to support patients’ access to their information through various electronic means, such as Blue Button and patient portals, this is not sufficient to make patients first-order participants in their care, their health and their research efforts...

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An Amazing Year for Open Access in Myanmar

Iryna Kuchma | EIFL | March 31, 2016

“Today, with the unprecedented access to diverse research materials online, we are witnessing encouraging progress in the academic efforts of Myanmar researchers and students,” says Professor Dr Thida Win, Rector of the University of Mandalay. It is a sunny morning, beginning of the dry season, Mandalay is very hot, and we are talking about open access in the oldest university in Upper Myanmar with the Open Access Working Group members...

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