International Open Access Week is an annual global event celebrating and sharing knowledge about free online access to scholarly publications. This year’s Open Access Week is October 19-25. The theme, “Open with Purpose: Taking Action to Build Structural Equity and Inclusion” marks the third consecutive year that this event will focus on the need for action on equity and inclusion, underscoring the urgency of continuing to center this work. “Openness can be a powerful tool for building more equitable systems of sharing knowledge,” writes Nick Shockey, Director of Programs & Engagement at SPARC.
The University of California Libraries have planned a variety of workshops and materials to observe International Open Access Week, all of which are free and online. All times are in Pacific, and most events are open to all; see event descriptions for details and exceptions.
Tuesday, October 13
10:30–noon
Open Science 101: Getting Started with Open Research Tools and Workflows, presented by UCSF
Open to all
This interactive, hands-on class will cover some of the most prevalent trends in open science including open access publishing, open research data, open protocols, and open code. We will introduce emerging biomedical funder and publisher requirements for open science, describe how you can get credit and citations for your work, and share best practices for integrating open science practices into your research workflow. Through a series of short activities you will also have a chance to explore some of the most relevant open science tools for your research.
Monday October 19
Play any time after the game link goes live on October 19
Open Axis: The Open Access Video Game. Choose your own adventure, presented by the UCLA Library
Open to all, with some UCLA-specific content
Gamification can be a useful tool to explain concepts with lots of “it depends” answers. Crucially, games acknowledge that there are many different paths to success, much like scholarship. Appreciating current circumstances, we want to reach our users asynchronously and online, through dynamic modes of engagement. Our original game has elements of both interactive storytelling and classic 8-bit video games, capturing the familiarity and nostalgia of simpler times.
1:00–2:30pm
Copyright and Your Dissertation, presented by UC Berkeley
Open to all
This workshop will provide you with a practical guidance for navigating copyright questions and other legal considerations for your dissertation or thesis. Whether you’re just starting to write or you’re getting ready to file, you can use our tips and workflow to figure out what you can use, what rights you have as an author, and what it means to share your dissertation online.
Tuesday October 20
Noon–1pm
“Predatory” Publishing: Addressing Bias & Avoiding Pitfalls, presented by UC San Diego, UCSF, UCI, and Temple University
Open to all
“Predatory” publishing, especially in the health sciences, is an ongoing concern and it is essential for researchers to be able to recognize deceptive publishing practices. It is important, though, not to oversimplify what constitutes predatory practices. While using tools like “blocked” or “approved” lists helps researchers avoid predatory publishers, these lists can reinforce power dynamics that exclude marginalized, non-western viewpoints. Come to this session to learn how to balance publishing in high quality open access journals while staying aware of the biases in scholarly publishing. This event is geared towards researchers but is open to all.
Register here
1:00–2:30pm
Managing and Maximizing Your Scholarly Impact, presented by UC Berkeley
Open to all, with some Berkeley-specific content
This workshop will provide you with practical strategies and tips for promoting your scholarship, increasing your citations, and monitoring your success. You’ll also learn how to understand metrics, use scholarly networking tools, evaluate journals and publishing options, and take advantage of funding opportunities for Open Access scholarship.
Wednesday October 21
10–11am
Open Access at UCR: An Update on Local and UC OA Agreements, presented by UC Riverside Library
Aimed at members of the UCR community
This will be an update on the various new publisher open access agreements at UCR and UC, including information on how to participate in each one. Recent agreements include PLoS, Microbiology Society, Biochemical Society, Cambridge, Springer Nature and ACM.
Thursday October 22
Noon–1:30pm
Building Structural Equity and Inclusion: Open Educational Resources and Affordable Course Materials presented by UC San Diego
Open to all
While many of the benefits of using openly licensed materials remain constant, their importance is amplified as students are facing decreased bandwidth and access, and increased financial obstacles due to the pandemic. Findings described in Open Educational Resources as a Tool for Educational Equity: Evidence From an Introductory Psychology Class suggest that, “textbook costs disproportionately affect our most vulnerable students and the use of OER may be one solution to this problem.” Register for this free online session as we explore strategies for ensuring your students can access and engage with the resources you need to support your instruction.
Register here
1:00–2:30pm
From Dissertation to Book: Navigating the Publication Process, presented by UC Berkeley
Open to all
Hear from a panel of experts—an acquisitions editor, a first-time book author, and an author rights expert—about the process of turning your dissertation into a book. You’ll come away from this panel discussion with practical advice about revising your dissertation, writing a book proposal, approaching editors, signing your first contract, and navigating the peer review and publication process.
2–3pm
Finding and Using Open Data, presented by UC Riverside Library
Aimed at members of the UCR community
This workshop will discuss differences between open, shared, and closed data; identify places to find open data; and steps to take when creating a dataset using open data.
Tuesday October 27
10–11am
Using the Open Science Framework (OSF) for Reproducible Research, presented by the UC Riverside Library
Aimed at members of the UCR community
The Open Science Framework (OSF) is a freely available tool to keep data and documentation from your research projects organized and accessible. OSF can be used for any kind of project and by students and researchers in all disciplines, not just the sciences. OSF also makes it easy to collaborate with others and automate version control for your project files. In this workshop, you’ll learn how this tool can help you enhance the efficiency, visibility, and reproducibility of your work.
Wednesday October 28
10–11:30am
Introduction to protocols.io and the Art of Writing Protocols, presented by protocols.io staff and hosted by the UC Riverside Library
Aimed at members of the UCR community
Research papers and protocol organization in labs often lack detailed instructions for repeating experiments. protocols.io is an open-access platform for researchers to collaboratively create step-by-step, interactive and dynamic protocols that can be run on mobile or web. Researchers can share protocols with colleagues, collaborators, the scientific community or make them public, with ease and efficiency. Real-time communication and interaction keep protocols up to date with versioning, forking/copying, Q&A, and troubleshooting. Public protocols receive a DOI and allow open communication with authors and researchers to encourage efficient experimentation and reproducibility. Join this webinar to learn more about protocols.io and the benefits that come with your UC Riverside Carbon account.
Thursday October 29
2–3:30
Introduction to QGIS, presented by the UC Riverside Library
Aimed at members of the UCR community
QGIS is a free and open source geographic information system. It allows users to create, edit, visualize, analyze and publish geospatial information on Windows, Mac, Linux, and BSD. This workshop will introduce some of the basic mapping functions available in QGIS.
Tags: Berkeley, Open Access, UC Irvine, UC Libraries, UC Riverside, UCLA, UCSD, UCSF
