A possible alternative to the current scholarly communication process is the open access initiative. Open access publications are available freely on the Web with the cost of these publications provided in a number of ways. Methods to fund open access publications include donations (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy), authors' fees (not unlike some subscription based journals), or support by an institution such as a university. The Marquette Libraries support open access publications in various ways. Earlier in 2008, the Libraries contributed to an endowment for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy as did Boston College, Georgetown University, the University of Notre Dame and hundreds of other colleges, universities and scholarly organizations. Also, the Libraries regularly link open access journals in MARQCAT, the online catalog.

Other sources for information about Open Access include:

For Authors | Definitions/Types of OA | Finding Tools
OA Publishing Models | For Publishers

Sites for Authors

Definitions/Types of OA

  • Green OA - content is in a repository
  • Gold OA - content is in a journal
  • Gratis OA - cost barriers have been removed
  • Libre OA - permission barriers have been removed or reduced

Finding Tools


For Journals

For Repositories

Sites for Publishers