Open Access

Get the Open Access Publishing Survey Report

Gain insights into how Western faculty, staff and graduate students engage with open access publishing. Our survey report shares findings on publishing habits, financial considerations and perceptions of OA journals. Sign up to receive the full report.
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What is open access?

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

Why choose open access?

Open access icon.

Publishing open access (OA) gives your research more exposure, wider reach, higher citations and more downloads. It provides immediate access to your research and extends the reach so anyone in the world can access, use and cite your research.

Paywalls limit access to institutions and researchers that can afford it, making it more difficult for researchers in developing countries to access vital research. Open access publishing enhances your academic profile and visibility and helps our university remain competitive as a research institution.

Open access publishing guide

Check out our guide for details about publishing your research articles in open access journals, repositories and datasets.

Transformative agreements

Find out how we provide financial support for Western Michigan University researchers who publish in open access journals.

Open educational resources

Learn how you can find, adapt and create OER that reside in the public domain or are released under an open license making them freely usable and shareable.

We value open access because it provides transparency and awareness of the intellectual output of our University and shines a light on the innovative scholarship taking place at WMU.

Have an open access question?

Reach out to Michele Behr, scholarly communications and open educational resources librarian.
Reach out to Edward Eckel, University Libraries chair.