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The evolution of open access to research and data in Australian higher education

La evoluciĆ³n del acceso abierto a la investigaciĆ³n y a los datos en la educaciĆ³n superior en Australia

OA is a kind of access, not a kind of business model, license, or content.

(Peter Suber, 2013)

Abstract

Open access (OA) in the Australian tertiary education sector is evolving rapidly and, in this article, we review developments in two related areas: OA to scholarly research publications and open data. OA can support open educational resource (OER) efforts by providing access to research for learning and teaching, and a range of actors including universities, their peak bodies, public research funding agencies and other organisations and networks that focus explicitly on OA are increasingly active in these areas in diverse ways. OA invites change to the status quo across the higher education sector and current momentum and vibrancy in this area suggests that rapid and significant changes in the OA landscape will continue into the foreseeable future. General practices, policies, infrastructure and cultural changes driven by the evolution of OA in Australian higher education are identified and discussed. The article concludes by raising several key questions for the future of OA research and open data policies and practices in Australia in the context of growing interest in OA internationally.

Resumen

El acceso abierto (AA) en el sector de la educaciĆ³n superior en Australia ha experimentado una rĆ”pida evoluciĆ³n. Este artĆ­culo revisa los avances en dos Ć”reas relacionadas: el AA a las publicaciones de investigaciĆ³n cientĆ­fica, y a los datos abiertos. Por un lado, el AA puede suponer un apoyo a los recursos educativos abiertos (REA) en la medida en que proporciona acceso a la investigaciĆ³n para el aprendizaje y la enseƱanza. Por otro lado, un amplio abanico de actores (que incluye universidades, sus principales Ć³rganos, organismos pĆŗblicos de financiaciĆ³n de la investigaciĆ³n, asĆ­ como otras organizaciones y redes que se concentran explĆ­citamente en el AA) se muestran cada vez mĆ”s activas en estos Ć”mbitos de distintas maneras. El AA invita a cambiar el statu quo en todo el sector de la educaciĆ³n superior, y el impulso y el dinamismo actuales en esta Ć”rea sugieren que se seguirĆ”n produciendo cambios rĆ”pidos y relevantes en el contexto del AA en un futuro previsible. El presente artĆ­culo identifica y analiza tambiĆ©n las prĆ”cticas generales, las polĆ­ticas y los cambios culturales e infraestructurales derivados de la evoluciĆ³n del AA en la educaciĆ³n superior en Australia, y concluye planteando diversas cuestiones clave relativas al futuro de las prĆ”cticas y polĆ­ticas en materia de datos abiertos y de investigaciĆ³n de AA en Australia en un marco de creciente interĆ©s por el AA a escala international.

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Correspondence to Vicki Picasso.

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Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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Picasso, V., Phelan, L. The evolution of open access to research and data in Australian higher education. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 11, 122ā€“133 (2014). https://doi.org/10.7238/rusc.v11i3.2076

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.7238/rusc.v11i3.2076

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