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Open Access

The open access movement is a long-standing campaign to make scholarly works both freely available and reusable. One of its fundamental premises is that the progress of knowledge and culture happens when scholarly works of all kinds are widely shared, rather than hidden in ivory towers built with paywalls and buttressed by harsh legal regimes. That is why open access has two primary goals: (一)Making research available online to the public, free of cost. This could be through an online repository hosted by a university, agency, or private entity; or through an open access journal. (二)Making sure research is reusable by publishing it under an open licensing scheme. This allows for works not only to be read, but also to be analyzed and built upon for downstream innovation and the pursuit of knowledge. Scholarly journal publishers currently compile research done by professors (for free), send articles out to be peer reviewed (for free), and distribute the edited journals back to universities and institutions around the world (charging anywhere up to $35,000 each). Subscription prices have outpaced inflation by over 250 percent in the past 30 years, and these fees go straight to the publisher—resulting in unbelievable profit margins. Neither the authors nor their institutions are paid a cent, and the research itself—which is largely funded by taxpayers—remains difficult to access, much less repurpose, compare, or share. Skyrocketing costs have forced institutions and university libraries—even Harvard's, the richest American university—to pick and choose between journal subscriptions. The result: Even as new technologies are making it easier than ever to share knowledge, students and citizens face barriers accessing information they need (and help fund); professors have a harder time reviewing and teaching the state of the art; and cutting-edge research is locked up far too long behind paywalls, depriving it of the visibility it deserves.

Legislation and Government Action

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Memorandum

The White House released a memorandum (PDF) on February 22, 2013, in support of a more robust policy for public access to research, making the results of billions of dollars of taxpayer-funded research freely available online. The memorandum gives government agencies six months to detail plans to ensure the public can read and analyze both research and data, without charge. The embargo period for the OSTP policy, however, is recommended at twelve months, and the policy does not mention reuse rights.

Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR)

The Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR) takes a strong public access policy and, unlike the White House memorandum, sets it in law. Introduced by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Representatives Mike Doyle (D-PA), Kevin Yoder (R-KS), and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the bill would require any government agency with an extramural research budget of above $100 million to ensure that the research it funds is placed in a public repository within six months of publication. The bill does not have any open licensing requirements, but it does require agencies to examine "whether such research papers should include a royalty-free copyright license that is available to the public and that permits the reuse of those research papers, on the condition that attribution is given." Such a license would allow for complete reuse of published research, including in downstream research or computational meta-analysis. FASTR is a strong, important step towards access to new, innovative, publicly funded research. Contact your lawmakers and tell them to support FASTR. Take Action

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EFF Related Content: Open Access

Deeplinks Blog byRory Mir | October 24, 2025

Science Must Decentralize

Knowledge production doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Every great scientific breakthrough is built on prior work, and an ongoing exchange with peers in the field. That’s why we need to address the threat of major publishers and platforms having an improper influence on how scientific knowledge is accessed—or outright suppressed... ●Read more about Science Must Decentralize

Deeplinks Blog byKit Walsh | October 23, 2025

Civil Disobedience of Copyright Keeps Science Going

Creating and sharing knowledge are defining traits of humankind, yet copyright law has grown so restrictive that it can require acts of civil disobedience to ensure that students and scholars have the books they need. Unless publishing gatekeepers adopt drastically more equitable practices and become partners in disseminating knowledge, they... ●Read more about Civil Disobedience of Copyright Keeps Science Going

Deeplinks Blog byCorynne McSherry | March 31, 2025

EFF Urges Third Circuit to Join the Legal Chorus: No One Owns the Law

●Español Two appeals courts have recently rejected efforts by private parties to use copyright to restrict access to the laws that most directly affect ordinary citizens: regulations that ensure our homes, workplaces, devices, and many other products, are safe and fit for purpose. Apparently hoping the third time will be the... ●Read more about EFF Urges Third Circuit to Join the Legal Chorus: No One Owns the Law

Person in suit censoring words on a page

Deeplinks Blog byAlexis Hancock, Rory Mir | February 5, 2025

DDoSed by Policy: Website Takedowns and Keeping Information Alive

Who needs a DDoS (Denial of Service) attack when you have a new president? As of February 2nd, thousands of web pages and datasets have been removed from U.S. government agencies following a series of executive orders. The impacts span the Department of Veteran Affairs and the ... ●Read more about DDoSed by Policy: Website Takedowns and Keeping Information Alive

Aaron Swartz at a Boston Wiki Meetup in 2009

Deeplinks Blog byHayley Tsukayama | November 8, 2024

Celebrating the Life of Aaron Swartz: Aaron Swartz Day 2024

Aaron Swartz was a digital rights champion who believed deeply in keeping the internet open. His life was cut short in 2013, after federal prosecutors charged him under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) for systematically downloading academic journal articles from the online database JSTOR. Facing the... ●Read more about Celebrating the Life of Aaron Swartz: Aaron Swartz Day 2024

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