Open Access is the free, immediate, online availability of research works coupled with the rights to use the work fully in the digital environment.

The term Open Access can apply to scholarly journal articles, books, and many other types of publications. There are other related terms for specific types of work, for example Open Data, Open Educational Materials, Open Source Software. The same free availability and reuse principles apply to all Open works.

This guide is aimed at scholars at Pitt who want to make their work openly available, either by publishing it open access or making it open access after publication. It also contains useful information about finding Open Access works and contributions that OA can make to goals like fostering diversity and inclusion and increasing the re-use of your work.

This guide was originally created by John Barnett. Revisions are made by Lauren Collister and Jonah McAllister-Erickson. A major language update is being done in 2021. 

Content of this guide is licensed under a Creative Commons-Attribution 4.0 license. You are welcome to re-use and adapt any part of this guide with credit to the original authors.