Harvard Yard Now Open Access Courtyard

Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences made a unanimous decision Tuesday to require faculty members to submit their published articles for inclusion in an open-access database. Unless scholars request a waiver to the policy, they must submit digital copies of their works to the provost’s office. Though the policy follows a similar proposal at the University of California, the Harvard move is the first major open access mandate to emerge at a United States institution of higher education.

Many outlets have been following the decision. Some further coverage and responses:

• Joseph Esposito predicted that publishers with open access experience will suddenly look more attractive for acquisition by other publishers as a result of the Harvard rule (The Scientist blog).
• Stevan Harnad proposed revisions to the rule pertaining to copyright retention, the possibility of waivers, Harvard’s timetable for reviewing the success of the program, and other issues (via Open Access News).
• Mike Carroll predicted that Harvard scholars and librarians will benefit, and wondered which institutions will be wise enough to follow. For example, he said Harvard librarians will be forced to become more familiar with the scholarly work of the faculty (via Open Access News).
• T. Scott Plutchak compared the rule favorably to a similar decision at the National Institutes of Health, praising the Harvard faculty for taking the issue into their own hands, rather than waiting for their superiors to require the move (via Open Access News).
• Andy Guess weighed the merits of the option for Harvard scholars to request a waiver to the rule (via Open Access News).

Tags: open access

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