Access Matters

Download the booklet: Opening Knowledge: Resources for Open Research and Teaching at Virginia Tech and Beyond

Watch Open Access Explained:

Information is important. We use information to make informed decisions about our lives, to explore our intellectual questions and interests, and to create art, knowledge, and change. We believe everyone should have equitable access to information. Being open also serves the global community and helps others to evaluate and build on your work. 

Everyone! Whether you are reading the research or conducting it, assigning the reading or reading the assignment, creating new art or enjoying it – OPEN for you. 

While open materials might seem “free” to users, a lot of energy, time, and resources go into creating and sharing them. Open allows for sharing and reuse. Open also does not mean lower quality or less oversight. Open access means public access. We find the term “open” to be most accurate. 

We value Sustainability, Equity, And Advocacy. 

We are committed to sharing knowledge for the public good.

• Read more about our values

• Open Access Policy at Virginia Tech

• Virginia Tech Guidelines on Open Educational Resources and Open Textbooks

OA Helper: App designed to help you get easy & legal access to open access versions of otherwise “paywalled” scientific articles

Unpaywall

Find more tools:

Open Access Support Guide 

Opening Knowledge: Resources for Open Research and Teaching at Virginia Tech and Beyond

VT Open Access Subvention Fund: When financial support is necessary this fund this available to assist authors with article-processing fees (APCs) can apply.

Open Education Faculty Initiative Grants: Provides funding and collaborative support to faculty for adaptation and creation of open educational resources.

University Libraries' membership discounts

Grantees and projects in process.

Introduction to Open Textbooks: 1 hour faculty workshop followed by review opportunity and $200 stipend to review an open textbook in your discipline.

VTechWorks: provides access and preserves research and scholarship produced at Virginia Tech 

Virginia Tech Data Repository: provides access and preserves research products (e.g. datasets) of the Virginia Tech community

Odyssey - a learning objects and educational resources repository for videos, handouts, infographics, lesson plans, and more

Virginia Tech Publishing: Virginia Tech’s digital-first, open access publisher, which is committed to increasing the visibility, reach, and impact of research produced at the university.

Book a consultation online.

• Open Access Overview: Learn more about open access, how to make work open access, and support for open access at the University Libraries

• Open Access Policy Guide: Information to help Virginia Tech authors deposit scholarly articles to VTechWorks

• Open Access Subvention Fund: Access request form, fund guidelines, and links to finding OA journals and publishers' OA policies

• Open Education: Read about open, editable, and lower-cost textbooks and open teaching & learning resources for faculty, students, and librarians

• VT Guidelines for OER and Open Textbooks

• ORCID Research Identifier: Learn about ORCID identifier for researchers and how it's integrated with services at Virginia Tech 

• Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs): Explore current info for Graduate Students about electronic theses and dissertations

• Research Data Management: Read more about effectively managing, sharing, and preserving your research data

• VTechWorks: Explore the university's online repository that preserves research and scholarship produced by students, faculty, and staff at Virginia Tech