Public Access, Open Access: Outlining the Key Differences

Not even an abstract is free online. Excerpt: "Whereas public access [as this term is used by the NIH, and not necessarily elsewhere] is a requirement placed on selected researchers, all scholars have the option to participate in OA publishing. An important distinction is copyright ownership. In public access, funding agencies make research results freely available, while still retaining traditional copyright restrictions. As with a published journal article, anyone can read the findings, but no one may redistribute the content without permission. In OA, the content is freely available and may be reused or even republished by others without having to gain permission...."