Open access
Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...
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
Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...
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 January 2018, there are nine research entities with policies in the international
Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies
The Registry of Open Access Repositories (ROAR) is a searchable international database indexing the creation, location and growth of open access institutional repositories and their contents. ROAR was created by EPrints at University of Southampto ...
.
Journals
As of April 2018, the international
Directory of Open Access Journals records some 79
open access journals
Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...
produced in South Africa.
Repositories
As of July 2018, the
Directory of Open Access Repositories
OpenDOAR: Directory of Open Access Repositories is a UK-based website that lists open access repositories (including academic ones). It is searchable by locale, content, and other measures. The service does not require complete repository detail ...
lists 39 repositories in South Africa. This includes 11 traditional universities (or at least their departments), several universities of technology (
Cape Peninsula University of Technology,
Durban University of Technology,
Central University of Technology and
Tshwane University of Technology), three comprehensive universities (
University of Johannesburg,
University of South Africa and
University of Zululand) and
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is South Africa's central and premier scientific research and development organisation. It was established by an act of parliament in 1945 and is situated on its own campus in the cit ...
(CSIR).
See also
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African Journals OnLine
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Access to information in South Africa Offering citizens access to state-held information is "one of the most effective ways of upholding the constitutional values of transparency, openness, participation and accountability." Currie and De Waal suggest that accountability is unattainable ...
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Science and technology in South Africa
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List of archives in South Africa
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Open access in other countries
Sources
References
Further reading
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External links
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Open Access Week 2013at the University of Cape Town
* Held at
Stellenbosch University, South Africa, November 7–8, 2012.
CSIR Research Spaceprovides access to some of the research outputs generated by CSIR scientists.
Rhodes Digital Commonsprovides access to some of the research output generated by the
Rhodes University community.
SUNScholarprovides access to research output from
Stellenbosch University.
UPSpaceprovides access to some of the research outputs generated by researchers at the
University of Pretoria.
UWC Theses OnlineThe
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.
Bolokaprovides 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
*
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OpenUCTprovides access to full-text electronic theses and dissertations submitted for degree purposes at
University of Cape TownZivaHub: Open Data UCTprovides open access to research data generated at
University of Cape Town
Academia in South Africa
South Africa
Science and technology in South Africa
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