Writings on open access

From Peter Suber
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I've written a lot over the years about open access (OA) to research. This bibliography of my writings on OA focuses less on news and more on commentary and analysis — pieces that might still be of interest. It includes books, newsletter essays, journal articles, preprints, and interviews. I omit pure news pieces, as well as minor pieces like blog posts, listserv messages, presentation slides, small web pages, and most letters to editors. I plan to keep it up to date. — Peter Suber.

  • Suggested short URL for this page = bit.ly/suber-oa-writings.
  • This version of the list (started August 2013) supersedes an earlier version.
  • For my work on topics other than open access, see my separate list of writings.
  • Originally I included interviews on this list only when they were writings. But after a while that seemed arbitrary and I began including video and podcast interviews as well. As a result, the list is now more complete even if the title is less accurate.
  • My ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is 0000-0002-3577-2890. Most of the works below appeared before ORCID existed. But I support ORCID and include my ID here to help associate it with my writings.




Most recent first

  • Open Access at Yale, video of an event at Yale, October 25, 2023. My "fireside chat" with Daniel Dollar, Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources, starts at min 28:10. Also see the Zoom chat transcript.
  • BOAI 20th Anniversary Webcast, a one-hour video discussion with Dominique Babini, Melissa Hagemann, Heather Joseph, Iryna Kuchma, and me, moderated by Juan Pablo Alperin, March 31, 2022 (released April 5, 2022).
  • Panel discussion. A 75 minute Q&A session with me and others by Philip Young, October 25, 2021, starting at 39:54.
  • What is the Open Access Tracking Project?, an overview by me, Milica Ševkušić, Tom Mosterd, and Lucy Barnes, October 13, 2020 (perma.cc link). We posted this piece to stir interest in an upcoming interview of me, Gary Price, Milica Ševkušić, Toby Steiner, and Christina Emery talking about the OATP, hosted by Lucy Barnes, October 20, 2020. Also see the video of that interview.
  • Unlocking Research. A 28 minute audio interview with me by David Weinberger for Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, August 16, 2012.
  • Open Access, MIT Press, June 2012. The book became OA in June 2013, one year after publication.
    • My book home page of notes, reviews, updates, supplements, and links to OA editions.
    • The MIT Press page on the book.
    • Copies in DASH.
    • Choice named this an Outstanding Academic Title for 2013.
    • The book was translated into Polish by Roman Bogacewicz, Maciej Chojnowski, Wojciech Fenrich, Joanna Kielan, Andrzej Leśniak, Krzysztof Siewicz, Michał Starczewski, and Jakub Szprot, under the title Otwarty dostęp, Warsaw University Press, October 2014. There is both a print and OA edition.
    • It was translated into Chinese by Li Wu under the title Kaifang Cunqu Jianbian, China Ocean Press, January 2015. There is no OA edition.
    • It was translated into Spanish by Remedios Melero under the title Acceso Abierto, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, August 2015. There is both a print and OA edition.
    • It was translated into Arabic by Tahseen Al-Khateeb under the title الوصول الحر, QScience division of the Qatar Foundation, October 2015. There is both a print and OA edition.
    • It was translated into French by Marie Lebert under the title Qu’est-ce que l’accès ouvert ?, OpenEdition Press, October 2016. There is both a print and OA edition.
  • Open Access and copyright, SPARC Open Access Newsletter, July 2, 2011.
    • Copy at Earlham.
    • Hélio Kuramoto translated this article into Portuguese, in three parts (1, 2, 3).
    • Constantinescu Nicolaie translated this article into Romanian.
  • Free Knowledge. A 24 minute audio interview with me by David Weinberger for the Harvard Library Innovation Laboratory, June 2, 2011.
  • Public Access to Federally Funded Research: Copyright and Other Issues. A 68-minute video discussion of federal open-access policy between me and Mark Seeley, Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Elsevier. Held at Harvard Law School, sponsored by the American Bar Association Committee on University Intellectual Property Law, and recorded April 9, 2012.
    • Also see my June 1, 2012, blog post on this event for some follow-up discussion.
  • Open Accessories, Radio Berkman, recorded February 26, 2009, released March 3, 2009. A 17:30 minute podcast interview with me by David Weinberger.
  • "Open access", a radio interview with me by Jesse Brown for his show, Search Engine, on Canada's CBC Radio One, May 29, 2008. Now a podcast. The interview starts at minute 13:30 and lasts about seven minutes.
  • Towards Open Access, The Earlhamite, Winter 2008. An interview with me by Jonathan Graham. (Not online.)
  • Trends favoring open access, SPARC Open Access Newsletter, May 2, 2007.
    • Copy at Earlham.
    • A revised version of this article was published in a special issue of CT Watch (Vol. 3, No. 3, Fall 2007) on The Coming Revolution in Scholarly Communications & Cyberinfrastructure.
  • Open access and quality, SPARC Open Access Newsletter, October 2, 2006.
    • Copy at Earlham.
    • This article was reprinted in the DESIDOC Journal of Library and Information Technology, January 2008.

Providing open access to past research articles, starting with the most important], SPARC Open Access Newsletter, June 2, 2004.

  • The Promise of 'Open Access' Publishing, transcript of a live, online colloquy sponsored by the Chronicle of Higher Education, January 29, 2004. Lila Guterman was the host who moderated the discussion, and I was the guest who answered questions.
  • The Database Paradox: Unlimited Information and the False Blessing of 'Objectivity', Library Hi Tech, 10, 4 (1992) 51-57.
    • Copy in DASH.
    • This piece is a revised and expanded version of "How Teachers Teach, How Students Learn: Teaching in a Blizzard of Information," in Evan Farber (ed.), Teaching and Technology: The Impact of Unlimited Information Access on Classroom Teaching, Pierian Press, 1991, pp. 67-74, which is itself a revised and expanded version of "Teaching in a Blizzard of Information," Issues in Science and Technology, 5, 4 (July 1989) 29-31.




The following are (or were) continuously updated and can't easily be placed in the chronological order above.



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