Introduction

“Open Access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of cost or other access barriers” (Open Access [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] , Wikipedia)

Open access research contrasts the existing ‘closed’ system for communicating scientific and scholarly research, where research papers are often only available to institutions able to pay for journal access and papers are behind expensive paywalls. This often means that material is inaccessible to many academics around the world or to people not working in education. This can affect how quickly ideas and innovation can develop.

This section will explore open access publishing, which aims to provide free access to scholarship, and offers the potential for universities and colleges to provide up-to-date resources and research to both students and educators at no cost. Conversely, open access journals and repositories also offer the potential for Myanmar universities to showcase their research to a wider international audience.

Let’s take a deeper look at how we can support a university to explore the possibilities of open access.