Open Access to Research Findings

Open Access (OA) enables access to knowledge resources - research papers, articles and books free of charge. OA applies to all research domains, including Science, Social Science, Humanities, Medicine, Engineering, and Mathematics and the like. Every year, approximately two million articles appear in 25,000 journals that are published worldwide. Having unrestricted access to research results reported in these publications only could help to disseminate knowledge, move science forward, promote innovation and solve the problems that society faces. Internet has made providing instant access to them a reality. Only commercial interests hinder it. As the government funds the research for the public good with the public taxes, the citizens have the right to access the research outputs (data, information and knowledge). In academic environment this has been a topic of discussion since long. But it required Government action and legislation. The document from Netherlands archive published here is the earliest initiative from any government that influenced the world in making knowledge free and accessible to all.