In recent decades, universities have identified serious concerns about the current state of scholarly communication, including:

• Lag times in the publication cycle
• Rising journal costs
• Ethical concerns about how the cost of academic research limits access
• Silencing of non-western voices in traditional scholarly publishing

Dissatisfied groups responded to these concerns by proposing open access--a model that makes digital copies of research freely available to the general public.

As a land-grant institution, Washington State University also values open access to information, As expressed in the recently proposed "Drive to 25," the university strives to increase the visibility of its faculty and student scholarship in order to engage a wider national and international audience.

This guide discusses open access publishing as an alternative to traditional scholarly communication and describes current services for WSU faculty and students who would like support in this area.

WSU Libraries are invested in helping WSU researchers improve access to their research. Here are a few services we provide:

• Use of Research Exchange, a digital repository that permanently archives your work and opens it to a global audience;
• Assistance in assessing the copyright of your previously published work should you wish to archive it online;
• Assistance in describing your work to facilitate discovery by search engines;
• Assistance in complying with federal/institutional mandates regarding open access

For more information, please explore this guide and contact us. We look forward to working with you.