Swam, A. Policy guidelines for the development and promotion of open access. UNESCO, Paris, 2012. ISBN: 978-92-3-001052-2. Pages: 76.

UNESCO is yet another international body that recently entered the ongoing open access debate (discussed in an article in this edition of the newsletter) through its publication - Policy guidelines for the development and promotion of open access. The guidelines are to assist and guide open access policy development at government, institutional and funding agency level with the primary objective to promote open access by facilitating a deeper understanding of all the relevant issues surrounding adoption of open access policies.

The author defines open access as “the provision of free access to peer-reviewed, scholarly and research information to all”. The three major goals of this publication are to allow UNESCO member state institutions to review their position on access to scientific information, assist member states in adopting appropriate open access policies and to facilitate the adoption of open access by research-funding bodies and institutions. The guidelines are not meant to be prescriptive in nature, but are informative and suggestive in order to accommodate knowledge-based decision-making,  allow for adoption of suitable policies and strengthen national research systems.

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