The University of Minnesota Libraries is committed to an open and diverse scholarly publishing system. We prioritize initiatives and publishing models that enable the University’s research to be freely available as a public good.

You may have heard the term “open access” in conversations about publishing. Open access publishing makes research available to anyone, anywhere. As important constituents in the scholarly publishing ecosystem, academic libraries like ours spend a lot of time thinking about how we can advocate for open access and also align our work with this global movement.

International Open Access Week, a global event now in its 14th year, is October 25-30 2021. This year’s theme will be: “It Matters How We Open Knowledge: Building Structural Equity.” We are excited to share, just in time for Open Access Week, a statement from the UMN Libraries that is well-aligned with this theme.

Our statement, Towards Open Access at the University of Minnesota, outlines the principles and actions we stand by in our commitment to building a more open and equitable publishing system.

This is a moment of flux and transformation for scholarly publishing and it can be challenging to evaluate options for a better future. We have spent years adapting, learning, and reflecting on which pathways we think will lead to the most sustainable future. In this document, we put our stake in the ground, so to speak. In the coming year, we will be sharing “Towards Open Access at the University of Minnesota” around campus. We look forward to rich discussions around an open access future and what we’re doing to get there.

Towards Open Access at the U of M