One of the most frustrating things when it comes to essays, as a student, is when you cannot gain\u00a0full access to a journal article.<\/p>\n
Recently, I attempted an inter-library loan, waiting over a month to discover that my request had been cancelled – other libraries were unable to share the article due to copyright. My deadline by this time had passed, so I could\u00a0neither\u00a0read nor cite this academic’s work.<\/p>\n
Open Access strives to make academic work freely available online without technological, financial or legal barriers.[1] \u00a0Barriers, which in this case, stopped me from reading\u00a0material, even with access to a university library. \u00a0Jack Andraka<\/a>,<\/span> <\/strong><\/span>a teenage cancer researcher who\u00a0created a revolutionary diagnostic test for pancreatic, ovarian and lung cancer, stresses\u00a0the importance of open access not only to the medical field but worldwide knowledge and innovation. \u00a0He argues that\u00a0‘<\/em>open access to scientific journals is important because then an important financial barrier to knowledge would be removed. Ideas could be exchanged more easily and rapidly and hopefully barriers due to age, gender or race could be eliminated’.\u00a0<\/em>[2]<\/p>\n So whilst this slideshare I’ve created covers the advantages (and disadvantages) of content being made open access by content producers, it is also worth considering the advantages for\u00a0the readers, who can cite, develop and build on these published ideas – a process made quicker and easier by open access. \u00a0At the core of education is the sharing of knowledge, \u00a0and open access reflects this ethic\u00a0by reducing and removing unnecessary restrictions.<\/p>\n