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Knowledge Mobilization

What Are Open Access (OA) Materials?

Open access (OA) materials include journal articles, community reports, best practices guidelines, training resources, among others source types, that are available for the public to access online free of charge. Open access supports knowledge mobilization. In the context of community engagement, it increases access to research for those outside of academic and research institutions. Open access is currently mandated by the Tri-Agency on their funded research projects.

OA materials are made available under an open licence such as Creative Commons clearly indicating that people can freely copy, reuse and share these materials (for more information, refer to the section on Intellectual Property & Copyright). 

 

OA Benefits in the Context of Knowledge Mobilization

If you are planning to publish your research article in a journal, you generally have two options for making it available as open access:

  1. Green OA - Sharing a pre-print version (submitted version prior to peer review) or post-print version (revised version after peer review) of your article in SOURCE or another open access repository, if the publisher allows OA. There is usually an embargo period (ranging from 6 to 24 months after publication) before you can openly share your work. 
  2. Gold OA - Paying an article processing fee (APC) to the publisher to make your article immediately available as open access upon publication. Refer to the next section on how to avoid deceptive journals. 

The Tri-Agency has an OA policy that requires grant recipients to make their funded research publications available to the public within 12 months of publication. This requirement can be met through either the gold or green open access route. 

Avoiding Deceptive Journals

Deceptive journals (also commonly referred to as "predatory journals") are fake journals that prey on authors for the sole purpose of extracting money. Their websites advertise misleading information (e.g., prestigious authors publishing in their journals and rigorous peer review, which are a sham) to trick authors into thinking they are legitimate journals. Their APC is typically inexpensive in comparison to legitimate OA journals. These journals advertise a high acceptance rate and fast turnaround time. They also send unsolicited emails to researchers and students to praise their work and invite them to publish. Deceptive journals are of growing concern as they become more difficult to identify and continue to discredit research. 

Creative Commons Licences

If you make your work available as open access, use an open licence such as Creative Commons to make it easier for people to understand what they may or may not do with your work. Creative Commons licences are well-established licences for creators and authors to indicate upfront that they allow people to copy, use, and share their work under certain conditions. You still retain copyright ownership of your work! 

There are seven types of Creative Commons licences to select from. A majority of them require attribution to the creator and source. Choose a Creative Commons licence that best meets your needs. For example,  is the mark for Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND licence, which means attribution is required, only non-commercial uses are permitted, and derivatives are not allowed. Visit the Creative Commons website for more information on their licences. 

To use a Creative Commons licence, simply include the licence mark that you choose in your work. Registration with Creative Commons is not required.

Refer to the "Intellectual Property and Copyright" page for more information.