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Further, the Senate supports the University Libraries’ efforts to negotiate transformative, transparent, and financially sustainable agreements with academic publishers to prioritize the open dissemination of research that democratizes access to knowledge.

Open Access is an international movement to change the ways in which scholarship is made available. 91¹ú²ú faculty are encouraged to take advantage of the benefits offered by Open Access publishing, such as increased collaboration and improved access to research. Open Access increases networking among scholars, with the likelihood that 91¹ú²ú scholarship would be more easily discoverable and cited by others¹. Open Access increases the visibility of 91¹ú²ú scholars’ research and thus enhances the University’s reputation.

In addition, Open Access is a social justice issue that seeks to make scholarship widely available to anyone. Traditional publishing models are cost-prohibitive for those outside of the academy, as well as researchers in developing countries with limited access to expensive database and journal subscriptions. By affirming a commitment to Open Access, the 91¹ú²ú Faculty Senate is making a commitment to equitable access to information.