Open Educational Resources Library Initiative: OA and OER: Definitions, Terms, and Relationship

Open Access (OA)

Open Access refers to the free availability of scholarly and research output, enabling anyone with internet access to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these resources. The primary goal of OA is to remove barriers to accessing knowledge.

Essentially, open access content is publicly accessible and can be reused for various purposes without requiring permission or paying fees, as long as the original author is credited.

Examples of open access content include:

• Journal articles
• Books
• Datasets
• Software
• Multimedia resources

Important components of the OA model include:

1. Authors keep their copyright.
2. Zero embargo period.
3. Share the research data with the article.
4. Add a Creative Commons license to the research article that enables text and data mining (any of the licenses work, but CC BY is preferred).

Open Access Options

Open Access authors have the opportunity to publish in a few ways. The most common are known as “Green” or “Gold” Open Access.

Green OA = ​making a version of the manuscript freely available in a repository. This is also known as self-archiving. An example of green OA is a university research repository. OA repositories can be organized by discipline (e.g. arXiv for physics) or institution (e.g. Knowledge@UChicago for the University of Chicago).

Gold OA = making the final version of the manuscript freely available immediately upon publication by the publisher, typically by publishing in an Open Access journal and making the article available under an open license. Typically, Open Access journals charge an Article Processing Charge (APC) when an author wishes to (a) publish an article online allowing for free public access and (b) retain the copyright to the article. APCs range from $0 to several thousand dollars per article. Read more about APCs at Wikipedia. An example of a gold OA journal is PLOS.

Diamond OA = a scholarly publication model in which journals do not charge fees to either authors or readers. Diamond OA journals are one type of community-driven, academic-led and -owned publishing initiatives. Diamond OA journals are designed to be equitable by nature and design and seek to support bibliodiversity through multilingual and multicultural scholarly communities.

(source: Campbell, Jennifer, "Creative Commons Certificate for academic librarians" [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/])

Open Educational Resources (OER)

Open Educational Resources (OER) are freely accessible, openly licensed teaching, learning, and research materials that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and repurposing by others. OER can include textbooks, course materials, full courses, modules, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge.  As defined by Jennifer Campbell's "Creative Commons Certificate for academic librarians" course (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) these teaching, learning, and research materials are either (a) in the public domain or (b) licensed in a manner that provides everyone with free and perpetual permission to engage in the 5R activities (retain, reuse, revise, remix, redistribute).^[3]

Types of Open Access Licenses

The most common type of open access license is the Creative Commons (CC) license. It offers a flexible way to grant copyright permissions for creative and academic works. There are six main types of CC licenses, each with different levels of permissiveness: 

Creative Commons Licenses

• CC BY: Attribution - This is the most permissive license, allowing others to copy, distribute, and modify the work, even for commercial purposes, as long as they give appropriate credit.
• CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike - Similar to CC BY, but any derivative works must also be licensed under the same terms.
• CC BY-ND: Attribution-NoDerivatives - Allows others to distribute and copy the work, but not to modify or create derivative works. 
• CC BY-NC: Attribution-NonCommercial - Permits noncommercial use, distribution, and modification, but not for commercial purposes.
• CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike - Combines the conditions of BY-NC and SA.
• CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives - The most restrictive license, allowing only noncommercial distribution and copying, without modification. 

In his blog, Lumen Learning CAO David Wiley (https://davidwiley.org/- license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) provides another popular definition, writing that only educational materials that satisfy the "5R's" meet the threshold of OER.

The 5Rs include:

1. Retain – permission to make, own, and control copies of the content (e.g., download, duplicate, store, and manage)
2. Reuse – permission to use the content in a wide range of ways (e.g., in a class, in a study group, on a website, in a video)
3. Revise – permission to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself (e.g., translate the content into another language)
4. Remix – permission to combine the original or revised content with other material to create something new (e.g., incorporate the content into a mashup)
5. Redistribute – permission to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others (e.g., give a copy of to a friend)

The easiest way to confirm that an education resource is an *open* educational resource that provides you with the 5R permissions is to determine that the resource is either in the public domain or has been licensed under a Creative Commons license that permits the creation of derivative (revised, remixed) works – CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC BY-NC, or CC BY-NC-SA.

Relationship Between OA and OER

While both OA and OER promote free access to information, they have distinct focuses. OA primarily concerns the dissemination of scholarly research, while OER focuses on educational materials. However, there is a strong overlap. OER often incorporates OA materials like journal articles, datasets, and other scholarly works to create comprehensive learning resources.

Importance of OA for Faculty and Students

• For Faculty: OA provides researchers with a wider audience for their work, increasing its impact and citation count. It also facilitates collaboration and knowledge sharing among scholars. Additionally, OA can help researchers stay updated on the latest research in their field.
• For Students: OA grants students direct access to scholarly articles and research, enabling them to conduct in-depth research for assignments and projects. It also promotes critical thinking and information literacy skills as students learn to evaluate and use scholarly information.

Importance of OER for Faculty and Students

• For Faculty: OER offers faculty a flexible and affordable way to create and customize course materials. By leveraging OER, faculty can save time and money on textbook costs while providing students with high-quality, up-to-date resources. OER also promotes innovative teaching and learning practices.
• For Students: OER reduces the financial burden of textbooks, making education more accessible to students. It also provides students with a variety of learning materials to choose from, allowing them to find resources that best suit their learning styles. OER can also enhance student engagement and learning outcomes.