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Open access content is freely available online for anyone in the world to access and share. Researchers can access open access literature, even outside a university campus, without encountering paywalls. Authors can benefit from the open availability of their research to others, leading to an increase in the visibility and usage of their work. Many funding agencies have encouraged or mandated OA because the potential for enhanced visibility and discoverability promises a greater return on their investment.
Gold OA works can often be re-used without needing to request additional permission from publishers. For example, an OA article could be re-published in a university course package, or translated by someone into a different language, or figures or text from an article could be re-used in a presentation. Through Gold OA it is possible to enable anyone to make derivative versions of your work, depending upon the particular Creative Commons license you apply.
Open access means greater access for society at large and potentially greater public engagement with research. OA can help professionals outside academia who rely on research – including health workers, teachers and lawyers – to benefit from access to the latest findings.