UWC signs Open Access declaration | IT-Online

"The University of the Western Cape (UWC) has signed the Berlin Declaration to Open Access in the Sciences and Humanities. 'Universal and equitable access to information is vital for the social, cultural, economic and personal development of individuals and communities alike. Our goal is to transform South Africa by making information freely accessible to all,' says Pateka Matshaya, library director at UWC. Signing the declaration commits the university to supporting the principles of open access and working to achieve openness in publicly funded projects. Open access is achieved through deposit of peer-reviewed research papers in repositories or through publication in open access journals – the research is thus free for all to view and use, not just those who’ve paid for journal subscriptions or whose libraries have allowed them access (and in turn paid for subscriptions). Researchers get to have their work read by many more people, industry is able to make use of academic work they might otherwise never have seen, and the public gets to see where their funds go – a win-win situation for all those who create, use or are interested in human knowledge ..."