Open Access Publishing of ETD’s: Requirements and Implications of complying with Budapest, Bethesda and Berlin

Abstract

This presentation will cover the specifications of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) – a significant movement gaining momentum worldwide – and examine the implications BOAI would have on ETD publishing. The vision of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) is the “completely free and unrestricted access” to scholarly literature “by all scientists, scholars, teachers, students, and other curious minds.” Building on earlier OA declarations signed in Bethesda and Berlin, BOAI reflects the principle that open access publishing “will accelerate research, enrich education, share the learning of the rich with the poor and the poor with the rich, make this literature as useful as it can be, and lay the foundation for uniting humanity in a common intellectual conversation and quest for knowledge.” While BOAI has been initiated to address new forms of journal publishing, “it could be extended quite naturally to all the writings for which authors do not expect payment... These include theses and dissertations.” (Budapest Open Access Initiative:Frequently Asked Questions, http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/boaifaq.htm) As unique works intended to enter the stream of scholarship, ETD’s are a natural candidate for OA publishing. But are the requirements of Budapest suitable for the ETD community? For example, the requirement for distribution under a CC-BY license means that an ETD could be redistributed by any interested party, whether for free or for profit, an objectionable outcome for some authors and institutions. All BOIA implications for ETD publishing will be examined in this presentation.