Open access in South Africa

Open access to scholarly communication in South Africa occurs online via journals, repositories, and a variety of other tools and platforms. Compared to other African nations, open access in South Africa has grown quickly in recent years. According to UNESCO, South Africa is a leading African country in terms of open access policies on the governmental level and grass-roots initiatives in universities and research organizations. South African signatories to the international "Open Access 2020" campaign, launched in 2016, include the South African National Library and Information Consortium (SANLiC) and University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

As of April 2018, the international Directory of Open Access Journals records some 79 open access journals produced in South Africa. As of January 2018, there are nine research entities with policies in the international Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies.

Journals

African Invertebrates journal began publishing open access content in 2006 (previously titled Annals of the Natal Government Museum)

Many editorial boards of scholarly journals in South Africa have decided to publish in open access form, allowing readers to access articles for free and to freely reuse the information therein. Typically, the intention is to foster further research, to advance scholarship and the production of knowledge, and to encourage reuse of research without the obstacle of costly access.

Repositories

South African research organizations and academic institutions have joined the global drive of making knowledge available in a free and open manner. The drive within South Africa is gaining momentum as more academic institutions and research organizations are starting to participate.

As of March 2018, the Directory of Open Access Repositories lists several repositories in South Africa.

See also

• African Journals OnLine
• Access to information in South Africa
• Science and technology in South Africa
• List of archives in South Africa
• Open access in other countries

Further reading

• Richard Poynder (2013-10-30), "Michelle Willmers on the state of Open Access: Where are we, what still needs to be done?", Open and Shut?
• Laura Czerniewicz; Sarah Goodier (2014), "Open Access in South Africa: a Case Study and Reflections" (PDF), South African Journal of Science, 110
• Pierre JT de Villiers (2014), Open Access Publishing in South Africa- 2014 (PDF), Durbanville: African Online Scientific Information Systems
• "Open Access South Africa: Starting a Student Network", Righttoresearch.org, Washington DC: Right to Research Coalition, 2014
• "Open Access in higher education in South Africa". Itwebafrica.com. 28 August 2017. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018.
• Walt Crawford (2018). "South Africa". Gold Open Access by Country 2012-2017. US: Cites & Insights Books.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

External links

• "Open Access Journals: SciELO South Africa". LibGuides. University of Fort Hare Libraries. Searchable full-text journal database
• Peter Suber (ed.). "(South Africa)". Open Access Tracking Project. Harvard University. News and comment from the worldwide movement for open access to research
• Open Access Week 2013 at the University of Cape Town
• "Berlin 10 Open Access Conference". 2012. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Held at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, November 7-8, 2012.
• CSIR Research Space provides access to some of the research outputs generated by CSIR scientists.
• ReRR provides access to some of the research output generated by the Rhodes University community.
• SUNScholar provides access to research output from Stellenbosch University.
• UPSpace provides access to some of the research outputs generated by researchers at the University of Pretoria.
• UWC Theses Online The University of the Western Cape electronic theses and dissertations repository holds full-text theses submitted for degree purposes since 2004, with selected titles prior to 2004.
• Boloka provides access to some of the research outputs generated by researchers at the North-West University.
• http://wiki.lib.sun.ac.za/index.php/SUNScholar/Ranking/National
• "Browse by Country: Africa: South Africa". Registry of Open Access Repositories. UK.
• Open Access in South Africa, DRIVER: Digital Repository Infrastructure Vision for European Research, archived from the original on 23 August 2011 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)