Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences

SPARC has named the Faculty of Arts and Science at Harvard University as the newest SPARC Innovators for their unanimous vote in support of a policy that ensures Open Access to the faculty’s published research results.

A February 12 vote made the Harvard faculty the first in the U.S. to embrace an Open Access directive and the first to grant permission to the university to make their articles openly available. The policy, drafted by a 10-member provost’s committee, was ratified by unanimous vote of a quorum of faculty members.

The Harvard FAS vote and Open Access policy emerged at a time when there is growing concern among faculty that traditional publishing processes are not ensuring maximum access to their research.

Addendum:

Stanford University School of Education passes open access policy in wake of Harvard’s action

Faculty in the School of Education at Stanford University capitalized on the momentum of Harvard’s new open access policies and, in June, unanimously adopted a policy requiring all their scholarly work be made available free to the public.

SPARC Innovator - December 2007:
AGENTS OF CHANGE - Student Activists for open access

SPARC Innovator - June 2007:
Ted & Carl Bergstrom

SPARC Innovator - December 2006:
Melissa Hagemann
Program Manager of the Open Access Initiative, Information Program, Open Society Institute 

SPARC Innovator - July 2006:
University of California

SPARC Innovator - April 2006:
Herbert Van de Sompel

SPARC Innovators are named by the SPARC staff in consultation with the SPARC Steering Committee. Individuals can nominate their colleagues as potential SPARC Innovators at http://www.arl.org/sparc/innovator/nominate.shtml. Criteria include but are not limited to a commitment to: 

• Reducing barriers to access, sharing, and use of scholarship, particularly in the scientific research field;
• Advancing the understanding and implementation of open access to research results;
• Working to create a balanced scholarly communication system;
• Use of technology to develop alternative publishing and communication solutions;
• Refusing to be constrained by the status quo and implementing new and creative ideas that are backed by research;
• Vision of the library as a focus for and/or supporter of change;
• The belief that individual actions can have a profound and positive impact in the scholarly communication field.

A SPARC Innovator can be an individual, a group of people, an institution, or another group that has been active in the areas listed above. Their actions may be broadly defined and may include online activity (i.e., postings on listservs and Web sites); on-campus programs and conferences; writing and editing (i.e., articles and books); promoting awareness and activism among others; and creating technologies and/or programs. There is no monetary award for SPARC Innovators.

For further information, please see the SPARC Web site at http://www.arl.org/sparc/.